Hidden insurance coverage of abortion should be brought to light
July 29, 2019 at 12:37 p.m.
Six years ago, President Obama told lawmakers and the American public in a specially called joint session of Congress on healthcare reform that “under our plan, no federal dollars will be used to fund abortion.”
Yet during the first two years of “Obamacare” (also known as the Affordable Care Act) implementation, all of the health plans sold on the New Jersey exchange covered abortion on demand. New Jersey exchange customers had no choice but to enroll in a plan that covered abortion on demand and included a secret abortion surcharge. And to make matters worse, it was nearly impossible to determine whether health plans covered abortion.
Finally, this year it is different. For 2016, there are 51 health plans sold on the New Jersey individual exchange–25 of those plans offered by Amerihealth New Jersey exclude abortion on demand and prominently disclose this information on the Summary of Benefits and Coverage (SBC).
In an accounting gimmick that was adopted to deceptively get around the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits federal funding of abortion through Medicaid, “Obamacare” requires premium payers in abortion-covering plans to be assessed an abortion surcharge every month to pay for abortions.
Many pro-life Americans may unwittingly be paying this abortion surcharge as the Obama Administration’s implementation of the law expressly permits insurance carriers to hide the abortion surcharge from consumers.
When the passage of “Obamacare” was being debated, the required abortion surcharge was explained this way by then-Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE):
“The insurance company must bill you separately, and you must pay separately from your own personal funds–perhaps a credit card transaction, your separate personal check, or automatic withdrawal from your bank account– for that abortion coverage. Now, let me say that again. You have to write two checks: one for the basic policy and one for the additional coverage for abortion.”
This accounting gimmick was never acceptable under the Hyde Amendment, but it turns out even this separate payment scheme is not taking place.
Instead, the Obama administration’s rulemaking tells insurance companies how to avoid the separate payment requirements outlined in the law. This means that the surcharge does not have to be billed separately and is likely all but invisible to the consumer.
To overcome the Administration’s highly deceptive cover-up of the abortion surcharge, pro-life customers of “Obamacare” health insurance plans must insist on knowing with certitude before signing up that the plan they intend to purchase does not fund abortion on demand. Otherwise “Obamacare” compels subsidies for the killing of unborn children through the hidden surcharge payments to an abortion fund.
If the Hyde Amendment had been included in “Obamacare” we would not be faced with this moral quagmire, because none of the exchange plans would cover abortion. This is why we must enact my bill, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act (H.R. 7).
The Act would make the Hyde amendment permanent and government-wide. Importantly, it would also require that during the interim, before the new policy takes effect, all health plans would be required to provide complete disclosure about their abortion coverage status, including notifying the consumer about the required (and currently secret) abortion surcharge.
The Obama administration’s cover-up of abortion insurance plans on the exchange is unnecessary, unacceptable and absolutely unconscionable. Consumers have a right to know. Currently, Amerihealth NJ health plans sold on the NJ exchange are the only plans that do not cover abortion on demand in New Jersey. Hopefully more insurance carriers will offer plans in the future that do not cover abortion.
Abortion is not healthcare – it dismembers and chemically poisons defenseless unborn children and wounds women. There is nothing benign, compassionate, or just about an act that utterly destroys a baby and often physically, psychologically, or emotionally harms the mother.
Congressman Smith (R-NJ) represents New Jersey’s Fourth Congressional District which includes portions of Mercer, Monmouth and Ocean Counties. He is chairman of the Bipartisan Congressional Pro-Life Caucus in the House with Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-IL).
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Six years ago, President Obama told lawmakers and the American public in a specially called joint session of Congress on healthcare reform that “under our plan, no federal dollars will be used to fund abortion.”
Yet during the first two years of “Obamacare” (also known as the Affordable Care Act) implementation, all of the health plans sold on the New Jersey exchange covered abortion on demand. New Jersey exchange customers had no choice but to enroll in a plan that covered abortion on demand and included a secret abortion surcharge. And to make matters worse, it was nearly impossible to determine whether health plans covered abortion.
Finally, this year it is different. For 2016, there are 51 health plans sold on the New Jersey individual exchange–25 of those plans offered by Amerihealth New Jersey exclude abortion on demand and prominently disclose this information on the Summary of Benefits and Coverage (SBC).
In an accounting gimmick that was adopted to deceptively get around the Hyde Amendment, which prohibits federal funding of abortion through Medicaid, “Obamacare” requires premium payers in abortion-covering plans to be assessed an abortion surcharge every month to pay for abortions.
Many pro-life Americans may unwittingly be paying this abortion surcharge as the Obama Administration’s implementation of the law expressly permits insurance carriers to hide the abortion surcharge from consumers.
When the passage of “Obamacare” was being debated, the required abortion surcharge was explained this way by then-Senator Ben Nelson (D-NE):
“The insurance company must bill you separately, and you must pay separately from your own personal funds–perhaps a credit card transaction, your separate personal check, or automatic withdrawal from your bank account– for that abortion coverage. Now, let me say that again. You have to write two checks: one for the basic policy and one for the additional coverage for abortion.”
This accounting gimmick was never acceptable under the Hyde Amendment, but it turns out even this separate payment scheme is not taking place.
Instead, the Obama administration’s rulemaking tells insurance companies how to avoid the separate payment requirements outlined in the law. This means that the surcharge does not have to be billed separately and is likely all but invisible to the consumer.
To overcome the Administration’s highly deceptive cover-up of the abortion surcharge, pro-life customers of “Obamacare” health insurance plans must insist on knowing with certitude before signing up that the plan they intend to purchase does not fund abortion on demand. Otherwise “Obamacare” compels subsidies for the killing of unborn children through the hidden surcharge payments to an abortion fund.
If the Hyde Amendment had been included in “Obamacare” we would not be faced with this moral quagmire, because none of the exchange plans would cover abortion. This is why we must enact my bill, the No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act (H.R. 7).
The Act would make the Hyde amendment permanent and government-wide. Importantly, it would also require that during the interim, before the new policy takes effect, all health plans would be required to provide complete disclosure about their abortion coverage status, including notifying the consumer about the required (and currently secret) abortion surcharge.
The Obama administration’s cover-up of abortion insurance plans on the exchange is unnecessary, unacceptable and absolutely unconscionable. Consumers have a right to know. Currently, Amerihealth NJ health plans sold on the NJ exchange are the only plans that do not cover abortion on demand in New Jersey. Hopefully more insurance carriers will offer plans in the future that do not cover abortion.
Abortion is not healthcare – it dismembers and chemically poisons defenseless unborn children and wounds women. There is nothing benign, compassionate, or just about an act that utterly destroys a baby and often physically, psychologically, or emotionally harms the mother.
Congressman Smith (R-NJ) represents New Jersey’s Fourth Congressional District which includes portions of Mercer, Monmouth and Ocean Counties. He is chairman of the Bipartisan Congressional Pro-Life Caucus in the House with Rep. Dan Lipinski (D-IL).
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