Starting in June of 2020, every American who purchased health insurance through former President Barack Hussein Obama’s Affordable Care Act exchange will begin receiving two monthly healthcare bills, one of which will be for abortion coverage.
“Under a new rule finalized by the Department of Health and Human Services in December, insurers are now required to issue a separate invoice for the amount of your premium that they attribute to abortion services,” The Washington Post confirmed Friday.
Here’s the fundamental catch that may not be evident from the Post’s report: Many Americans who’ve been purchasing healthcare insurance through Obamacare, including young and old men alike, have already been paying for abortion coverage since day one.
But because the bill for abortion services was just being added onto the overall bill for healthcare services, not everyone knew this. Thanks to the new policy implemented by U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Alex Azar, who was appointed to his post by President Donald Trump in late 2017, every American soon will.
“This rule will ensure that taxpayers do not contribute funds to pay for coverage of abortion services for which funding isn’t allowed by law, and will alert consumers that their health plan covers abortion services, allowing them to make fully informed decisions about their coverage,” HHS said in a statement Friday.
While it appears the latter point — alerting consumers to the fact that they’re paying for abortion services — is the greater achievement, Azar and other top officials have focused on the former point.
“[W]hen an exchange plan covers abortions for which public funding is prohibited by federal law, this rule requires that customers receive separate bills for that abortion coverage and for the rest of their insurance,” he said in his own statement.
“Providing these separate bills is an essential step in implementing the Affordable Care Act’s bar on tax credits going toward coverage of abortions for which public funding is prohibited. The separate billing requirement fulfills Congress’ intent and reflects President Trump’s strong commitment to preventing taxpayer funding of abortion coverage.”
Today, @CMSGov issued the Exchange Program Integrity Final Rule, which implements policies aimed at protecting taxpayer dollars by ensuring that Exchange enrollees are accurately determined eligible for premium subsidies. https://t.co/GueCCc7O8r
— Secretary Alex Azar (@SecAzar) December 20, 2019
Being good stewards of taxpayer dollars and faithfully implementing the law are among the most important duties HHS has, and that’s what we’re doing with this rule. It’s part of much broader efforts at CMS, under @SeemaCMS, to improve program integrity & reduce improper payments.
— Secretary Alex Azar (@SecAzar) December 20, 2019
In addition, when an exchange plan covers abortions for which public funding is prohibited by federal law, this rule requires that customers receive separate bills for that abortion coverage and for the rest of their insurance.
— Secretary Alex Azar (@SecAzar) December 20, 2019
Providing these separate bills is an essential step in implementing the Affordable Care Act’s bar on tax credits going toward coverage of abortions for which public funding is prohibited.
— Secretary Alex Azar (@SecAzar) December 20, 2019
The separate billing requirement fulfills Congress’ intent and reflects @POTUS’s strong commitment to preventing taxpayer funding of abortion coverage.
— Secretary Alex Azar (@SecAzar) December 20, 2019
“Today’s final rule drastically improves our ability to pay it right—to make the right payment to the right plan for the right people. The Trump Administration will spare no effort to ensure that taxpayer dollars are only going to those truly eligible.” https://t.co/Xo1NuWGmIQ pic.twitter.com/l1CsjGUSNE
— Administrator Seema Verma (@SeemaCMS) December 20, 2019
Conservatives/Republicans have been warning of the abortion costs associated with Obamacare since the ACA went into effect in 2014.
“Obamacare requires that, as of January 1, 2014, all individuals obtain qualified health insurance through their employer, on an exchange, or elsewhere. Consequently, millions of Americans have been looking to purchase health plans through state and federally run health insurance exchanges,” The Heritage Foundation noted at the time.
“In order to avoid a hefty fine, individuals must purchase a plan that satisfies minimum federal benefits requirements. Because of legislative loopholes and onerous mandates, Obamacare will entangle taxpayer funds in abortion coverage offered on the exchanges and force many Americans to pay an abortion surcharge with private dollars.”
That remains just as true now as it did back then.
Obamacare also likewise forces men young and old alike to pay for maternity care, a service that they’ll never need in their lives — even if they go transgender.
“Truth to be told, as a 50-something-year-old man, I don’t need maternity health care coverage. I don’t,” then-Kentucky Gov. Matt Bevin said at a rally for Trump two years ago.
“I’m not expecting that I’ll be expecting, and the idea that I’d be expected to cover health care coverage on the outside chance that I might be [is] a little bit preposterous.”
To some, so is the idea of men having to pay for women’s birth control, for tampons, and for abortions, of course.
I’m not here to judge this one way or another. We need to have compassion but at some point sexual irresponsibility must be addressed. It must. https://t.co/dvw8QQFb1m
— Jim C. ?? (@oklahomadude) December 28, 2019
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V. Saxena is a staff writer for BizPac Review with a decade of experience as a professional writer, and a lifetime of experience as an avid news junkie. He holds a degree in computer technology from Purdue University.
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