Cardinal Sean O’Malley, chairman of the United States Conference of Catholic Bishops’ Committee on Pro-Life Activities wrote to members of the House of Representatives to support the “Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act” (H.R. 3279), to address one part of the abortion-related problem in the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
According to a press release from the USCCB, Cardinal O’Malley’s November 1 letter points out that under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), unless state law requires otherwise, each insurer on the state exchanges may choose to cover elective abortion in their health plans. If they do so, enrollees in those plans must make a separate payment solely to cover these abortions. This special arrangement was made in order to allow these policies to qualify for federal tax subsidies, something that cannot be done under existing law which forbids the use of taxpayer money for abortion.
As Cardinal O’Malley correctly points out, this provision “violates the policies governing all other federal health programs. In no other program may federal funds subsidize any part of a health plan that covers such abortions; and nowhere else does the federal government forbid insurers to allow an ‘opt-out’ from such coverage on conscience grounds.”
Even more concerning are the unique secrecy provisions built into the ACA which does not allow the insurer to relate whether the plan covers abortion except when it lists all services at the time he or she is already enrolling in the plan. It also many not reveal how much of the person’s premium will go into this separate abortion fund.
“In other words, not only may pro-life people have a very limited choice of health plans that do not violate their consciences – but the law makes it all but impossible for them to find out which plans they are,” Cardinal O’Malley said.
Even though the new bill, introduced last month by U.S. Reps. Diane Black (R-TN) and Chris Smith (R-NJ), does not address other problems with abortion coverage in the ACA, the new bill will address this “unprecedented policy of government-enforced secrecy,” O’Malley writes.
If passed, the new law will require all health plans to report on their coverage of abortion and on the extra payment they charge to cover abortions.
“Only then will Americans be enabled to make an informed choice of a health plan for themselves and their families that does not violate their moral and religious convictions,” O’Malley writes. “This should be a point of agreement between lawmakers who consider themselves both ‘pro-life’ and ‘pro-choice.’ Any claim of ‘choice’ is empty if the law conceals the facts needed to make that choice.”
He ended his letter by urging members of Congress to co-sponsor H.R. 3279 and help enact it into law.
There are currently 109 sponsors of this bill. You can help increase that number by calling your representative today and asking him/her to support this bill! Click here for contact information.
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