Debating abortion funding
Thursday, December 3rd, 2009
Activists gathered in Washington Wednesday to rally against health reform legislation that restricts the use of public dollars for abortion.
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About 75 people from the Philadelphia region joined organizers from the group Women's Way. Melissa Weiler Gerber is executive director. She says lawmakers voted for the House health reform plan without fully understanding how it could curb abortion access.
Weiler Gerber: The Stupak amendment essentially puts major restrictions on women's health care by excluding from the federal exchanges and from the public option the ability for women to have abortion services covered.
Weiler Gerber wants lawmakers to keep the provision out of the final health overall legislation.
A spokeswoman for the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation says the proposal is a logical extension of existing law that bars the use of federal dollars for abortion, except to save the life of the mother or in cases of rape or incest. Bur Weiler Gerber says the Stupak provision is more restrictive than current rules. Maria Vitale with the Pennsylvania Pro-Life Federation says that's an incorrect interpretation of the proposal.
Vitale: We've seen consistently that people in America oppose federal funding of abortion, and they want that to continue, that policy of banning that federal funding in health care reform.
From Kaiser Health News:
Here's basic information about the House amendment and private insurance coverage of abortion:
Q: Do the House restrictions apply to all insurance?
A: No. They apply only to policies sold to people who qualify for federal subsidies to purchase insurance through the exchanges. Most job-based insurance, which is how the majority of insured Americans currently get their coverage, would not be affected.
Q: Who can buy through the health insurance exchanges?
A: Initially, the exchanges will be open to the uninsured, people who buy their own coverage and some small businesses. Two years after the exchanges open, Congress could decide whether to allow larger employers to purchase coverage there.
Q: Could consumers using the exchanges buy policies that offer abortion coverage if they use their own money, rather than federal subsidies?
A: Only if insurers decide to offer two types of policies in the exchange: ones made available to subsidy-eligible people that don’t cover abortion, and another set, sold only to those who don’t get federal subsidies, that would cover it. Insurers may have little incentive to offer both, as the vast majority of the exchange marketplace is expected to be subsidy-eligible people.
Q: Are there other options for people to get abortion coverage?
A: Yes, insurers could opt to create “abortion riders,” separate add-on coverage that consumers could purchase with their own funds.
Q: Do such policies exist?
A: Five states – Idaho, Kentucky, Missouri, North Dakota and Oklahoma – prohibit insurers from covering abortions except to save the life of the mother or in cases of rape or incest, but allow insurers to sell separate abortion riders. Insurance departments in Idaho, Kentucky and Missouri say they don’t track such riders, so it isn’t clear if any are offered. North Dakota and Oklahoma say insurers there don't offer abortion riders to individuals. In Oklahoma, however, one insurer has filed for a rider to offer abortion coverage to small groups. And in Idaho, one of the state’s major insurers offers abortion coverage to small groups if they pay an additional premium charge.
Q: How many people currently have abortion coverage in their health plans?
A: A survey by the Kaiser Family Foundation [pdf link] in 2003 found that 46 percent of workers had insurance that covered abortion. (KHN is part of the foundation.) Experts say most people use their own funds to pay for abortion. According to the Guttmacher Institute, which studies reproductive issues, about 13 percent of abortions are directly billed to insurers. That percentage could be low because some people may pay for abortions directly, then seek reimbursement from insurers, the institute says.
Q: Are there other restrictions on federal funding of abortion coverage?
A: Yes. The 1976 Hyde Amendment bars the use of federal funds to pay for abortions, except to save the life of the mother or in cases of rape or incest. Thirty-two state Medicaid programs, the joint federal-state programs for low-income people, limit abortion funding to those cases, according to the Guttmacher Institute. One, South Dakota, pays for Medicaid abortions only to save the life of the mother. And 17 use state funds to more widely offer abortions through their Medicaid programs. Restrictions on payment for abortion coverage are also in place for federal employees, women serving overseas in the U.S. military and women in federal prisons.
Q: How much do abortions cost?
A: First-trimester abortions can cost between $300 and $900, according to Planned Parenthood. Later-term abortions or abortions where women may face a higher risk of complications are more expensive, running several thousand dollars if hospital care is required.
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CRITICAL!! From jacksmith – Working Class
My Fellow Americans and People Of The World
A strong Government-run MEDICARE like Public Option is CRITICAL!!
I have to tell you now that the H1N1 virus is a manmade WEAPON OF MASS DESTRUCTION! and TERROR! It is a WEAPONIZED version of a flu virus. It has swept the planet infecting millions. And causing a global pandemic that has killed tens of thousands, and injured millions.
The H1N1 virus is the product of the DISGRACEFUL, GREED DRIVEN PRIVATE FOR PROFIT MEDICAL INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX! It was released in the U.S. in Texas in early January of this year, but not recognized until around April in California. The reason I know this is because when it came to America, it came to see me FIRST! How sweet…
This was around the time the MEDICAL INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX! assaulted the Whitehouse with all their devils deals to cripple and weaken YOUR! healthcare reform. Especially your right to have a single payer system like HR676 (Medicare For All) which most of you wanted.
They don't even want you to have your HUGE!!! compromise position of a strong government-run MEDICARE like Public Option CHOICE. To compete with their DISGRACEFUL, GREED DRIVEN, MURDEROUS, PRIVATE FOR PROFIT PRODUCT (The single most deadly and dangerous product sold in America).
They also wanted to take away your rights to have your government meet it's responsibility to use it's full power to regulate, negotiate, and control drug cost, healthcare cost and quality. Something every other civilized country in the developed World has done for it's people. Their Greed! moral degeneracy and lack of patriotism knows no bounds.
Many of you will remember that before we knew about H1N1. I posted a open message to the President and Congress warning them to be vigilant about their health, and cautious about any medical advice they received. As I said then "they will not hesitate to try and hurt you".
The U.S. and the World have been under a BIOLOGICAL TERROR ATTACK! for over a year now. It is CRITICAL that We The People Of The United States take away control of our healthcare system from the GREED DRIVEN MEDICAL INDUSTRIAL COMPLEX!
For our own National security, and the security of the world.
A Strong, government-run, MEDICARE like Public Option CHOICE. Available to everyone on day one, with the full unfettered power of the federal government to regulate, negotiate, and control cost and quality. Would be the most workable way to deal with this global crisis at this time. Including patent suspensions as needed for national security or the greater good.
As an American I invite the peoples of the World to help us fix our healthcare crisis. And bring pressure on our government to meet it's responsibility to protect global security by controlling, and removing the corrupting influence of GREED and the PRIVATE FOR PROFIT motivations from healthcare in the U.S. and around the World.
I call on the governments of the World and the global intelligence community to track down these MASS MURDERERS, and bring them to justice. CONNECT THE DOTS! And be vigilant that they don't slip in another viral strain on you under the cloak of H1N1 sequestration.
Further, the proposed patent protection on biologic's must be stripped from the US bill. And greatly shorten/restricted, or abolished completely. This is a grave danger to humanity and global security.
I think President Obama is doing the best he can at playing the disastrous deck of cards he inherited from the previous administration. And I think he is doing an excellent job. But the wolves and devils of the medical industrial complex! are trying to exploit, and take advantage of his good heart, and desperate desire to help suffering Americans. But we must be strong and insist that healthcare reform be done right for the American people. Or everyone loose's.
This is all I can say in a message post. I'll try to find a way to tell you more later.
God Bless You My Fellow Human Beings
jacksmith – Working Class
p.s. The so-called nominal H1N1 virus is designed in such a way as to make it more lethal to children and young adults. The medical community must be more vigilant of secondary bacterial infections in the young caused by H1N1. And remember, a viral infection is also a transfer of genetic code to you. Think about it, and be vigilant.