In spite of the administration’s elaborate accounting gimmicks designed to prevent taxpayer money from funding abortion – which is in direct violation of U.S. law – the Government Accountability Office (GAO) has just issued a new report which says many plans are doing just that.
The Daily Caller is reporting that the GAO found that a number of Obamacare exchanges appear to be sending taxpayer dollars to cover insurance plans that provide elective abortions, even though doing so violates the long-standing Hyde Amendment which prohibits the use of taxpayer money to fund abortions.
The report, which was commissioned last year by House Speaker John Boehner, found that 1,036 insurance plans offered on Obamacare exchanges nationwide currently cover elective abortions. A total of 28 states have placed no restrictions on insurers offering plans on exchanges while 23 states have done so.
“The administration created a way for Obamacare insurers to get around the restrictions without refusing to offer elective abortion coverage,” the Caller reports.
“Insurance plans are supposed to estimate the cost of covering elective abortions, collect that amount as a separate surcharge — separate from any premium cost — and use that extra fund, not eligible for federal subsidies, to pay for providing elective abortions. It’s essentially an accounting gimmick that allows the Obama administration to get around the Hyde Amendment requirement that it can’t fund insurance plans that cover abortion.”
However, the GAO found that 15 insurers on the exchange and the Washington state exchange, which bills enrollees directly, aren’t bothering to fulfill these requirements.
Not everyone is surprised by the news, especially because the Department of Health and Human Services has issued rules making it almost impossible to discover if a plan even covers abortion prior to purchase, let alone how their premium money is being spent.
“Today the GAO has confirmed what many of us knew from the beginning: Despite the President’s repeated claims, Obamacare subsidizes elective abortion with taxpayer funds,” says Family Research Council (FRC) president Tony Perkins.
Perkins also blasted the administration for refusing to reveal whether or not a plan funds abortion prior to purchase.
“The American people should not be forced to purchase an Obamacare healthcare plan before they are able to find out what is in it. They should not be kept in the dark regarding elective abortion coverage in Obamacare exchange plans. Further, the American people should not be forced to pay for other people’s abortions and check their consciences at the door in order to purchase insurance. . . . Americans should not be forced to play a game of moral Russian roulette when they select a health care plan.”
The FRC is putting out a new call for taxpayers and their representatives in the Senate to pass the “No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion Act and the Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2014” which passed the U.S. House of Representatives but has been languishing in the Democratically controlled Senate.
“The House has already acted but the Senate has not. I urge the Senate to act now so during the next open enrollment season that begins on November 15th, Americans can make truly informed decisions regarding what kind of healthcare plans they want.” Perkins concluded.
© All Rights Reserved, Living His Life Abundantly®/Women of Grace® http://www.womenofgrace.com
