A recent CNN article is entitled, “For many, Obama’s promise of health care choice does not ring true.” Writer Laura Koran points out that, in her congressional hearing, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, insisted that shoppers for health insurance have lots of options. In truth, the number of options for those thinking of purchasing a plan vary significantly from state to state and many Americans are discovering: they have very few options.
Under the Affordable Care Act, sixteen states plus the District of Columbia operate their own exchanges, or health insurance marketplaces. The rest are run by the federal government through the now-infamous healthcare.gov website. By shopping on these exchanges, consumers should be able to see what plans cover what procedures. One big exception is abortion. ObamaCare has a “secrecy clause” that makes it difficult, if not impossible, for consumers to know whether a given plan covers abortion.
In getting ObamaCare passed, pro-lifers insisted on protections against Americans being forced to pay for abortion. One protection was that every exchange was to be required to offer at least one plan that does not cover abortion. Another was that there would be a separate abortion surcharge so that people would not unwittingly be paying for abortion in their health insurance premiums. But it’s difficult, if not impossible to ascertain, before purchasing a policy on the exchange, that it does not cover abortion.
Anna Higgins lives in Washington D.C. and works at Family Research Council. She’s Director of FRC’s Center for Human Dignity. She’s as pro-life as they come. So, as a D.C resident, she wanted to see if there was a plan to be found in her vicinity that would not cover abortion. After making several phone calls, contacting each insurance company in the District, she found that “there is no way to avoid buying a plan that covers elective abortion in D.C.”
Anna spoke first with a female representative from Blue Cross. She says: “I asked her to tell me which plans offered under the D.C. health exchange include elective abortion coverage. She replied that ‘it looks like they all do.’” Another representative affirmed that. Anna wanted it clarified. She asked whether her premiums would cover other people’s abortions and the representative replied that that is correct.
As Anna Higgins dug deeper, she learned that elective abortion is a “central benefit” in D.C., a “preventative service” covered in all “qualified plans,” both private and Multi State. Where else is this the case?
Abortion is not listed under “essential benefits” on the healthcare.gov website. Yet consumers cannot tell whether an insurance plan covers abortion until they actually sign up and receive a statement of benefits.
Rep. Chris Smith of New Jersey has introduced legislation to remedy this situation: The Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act (HR 3279)
In implementing the Affordable Care Act, the Administration is playing fast and loose with the promises it made.