Pro-life Leaders Urge HHS to Finalize Rule Stopping Obamacare’s Hidden Abortion Surcharge

FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE
July 3, 2019
CONTACT: Mallory Quigley
[email protected] 202-223-8073

Consumers Shopping the Exchange for 2020 Deserve Transparency on Abortion Funding in Obamacare

Washington, D.C.  – Yesterday 25 U.S. Senators and 103 members of the House of Representatives led by Congressman Michael Cloud (R-TX) and Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith (R-MS) sent a letter urging the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) to quickly finalize a new rule, proposed last November, that directs insurers selling Obamacare plans that cover elective abortion to collect a separate payment from enrollees for that coverage, as required by law. Under the Obama administration, insurers were allowed to collect these payments together in violation of clear statutory language.

The national pro-life group Susan B. Anthony List (SBA List) praised the letter in a statement:

“We thank Congressman Cloud and Senator Hyde-Smith for their pro-life leadership,” said SBA List President Marjorie Dannenfelser. “Obamacare was the largest expansion of taxpayer-funded abortion on demand since Roe. The Obama administration then wrongly reinterpreted its own law to allow insurers to ignore the plain language of the law requiring an abortion surcharge to be collected separately. The sooner the rule restoring the original intent of the law is finalized, the fewer excuses insurers will have for noncompliance. Consumers deserve transparent information about the hidden abortion surcharge and the opportunity to avoid plans that cover abortion during the 2020 open enrollment period. Congress must still act to eliminate abortion funding from Obamacare, but until then, President Trump and Secretary Azar’s new rule is an important consumer protection that we hope to see swiftly finalized.”

In 2018, taxpayer-funded Obamacare insurance plans in 24 states and the District of Columbia were allowed to cover elective abortion with an embedded abortion surcharge. In 10 of those states more than 85 percent of Obamacare plans covered abortion on demand, including seven states where every single Obamacare plan for individuals and families covered elective abortion.

In 2014 the Charlotte Lozier Institute (CLI), SBA List’s research arm, and Family Research Council launched ObamacareAbortion.com as a resource to help consumers find pro-life health plans. Each year, researchers work to identify which plans cover abortion and thoroughly update the website with an interactive map for public use.

SBA List is a network of more than 787,000 pro-life Americans nationwide, dedicated to ending abortion by electing national leaders and advocating for laws that save lives, with a special calling to promote pro-life women leaders. 

###

Share this article: