The Charlotte Lozier Institute (CLI), the education and research arm of the Susan B. Anthony List (SBA List), today released new information exposing the ongoing abortion transparency problems during implementation of the Affordable Care Act.
The SBA List called on Congress to immediately vote on the Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act (S. 1848) introduced today by Senator Pat Roberts (R-KS), which would require clear disclosure of abortion coverage for each plan offered on the new health insurance exchanges. Congressman Chris Smith (R-NJ) introduced companion legislation in the House in October.
“HHS failure to address the abortion coverage transparency issue in Obamacare is unacceptable. We urge both chambers of Congress to immediately pass the Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act,” said SBA List President Marjorie Dannenfelser. “Without this legislation, millions of Americans are likely to be unknowingly enrolled in health plans that include abortion coverage.”
Last week, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, in response to a question from Rep. John Shimkus (R-IL), testified that abortion coverage information in insurance plans is “available for every customer,” and that “it is on the website.” After the testimony the Charlotte Lozier Institute undertook to research a variety of plan documents for health insurance plans on the federal exchange to discern which ones do and do not cover abortion. CLI found that it is still nearly impossible for individuals to know which plans force enrollees to pay a mandatory abortion surcharge.
“The Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act addresses just one of the many clandestine abortion funding problems in Obamacare,” continued Dannenfelser. “Shame on President Obama and Secretary Sebelius for continuing to mislead Americans on how this disastrous law expands taxpayer entanglement with abortion on demand.”
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Members of Congress who were the linchpins to its passage including pro-life Democratic Reps. Bart Stupak and Kathy Dahlkemper now publicly lament voting for it after they lost their jobs in the 2010 midterms.
A previous CLI study found that as many as 111,500 additional abortions per year could be heavily subsidized by taxpayers via federal premium tax credits and Medicaid expansion in Obamacare.
