(Washington, D.C.) – Today, U.S. Senator Patty Murray
(D-WA) led a group of Senators in sending a letter to Health and Human Services
Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, urging the department to reconsider the decision
to ban coverage for abortion services in Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plans
(PCIP). PCIPs, which were created by the Affordable Care Act, provide coverage
to those who have previously been unable to access insurance coverage due to
preexisting conditions. The Affordable Care Act places legal restrictions on
the use of federal funds for abortions, but it allows women receiving federal
subsidies to purchase reproductive care coverage with personal funds. The
recent ruling by HHS goes too far by restricting the use of private or state
funds for the purchase of abortion coverage through these high-risk insurance
pools, leaving women participating in state-run plans with no access to
abortion coverage.
“Congress
established the new PCIP to provide comprehensive coverage for Americans with
pre-existing conditions before the state-based health insurance exchanges are
operational in 2014. The high-risk insurance pool program is intended to
level the playing field for Americans who have been unfairly marginalized by
the current health insurance marketplace. As such, the program should
ensure that women with pre-existing conditions have access to coverage on par
with currently available health plans—which generally include abortion,” the Senators wrote.
The
letter was signed by Senators Patty Murray (D-WA), Al Franken (D-MN), Kirsten
Gillibrand (D-NY), Barbara Mikulski (D-MD), Barbara Boxer (D-CA), Diane
Feinstein (D-CA), Roland Burris (D-IL), Debbie Stabenow (D-MI), Charles Schumer
(D-NY), John Kerry (D-MA), and Frank Lautenberg (D-NJ).
The full text of the letter appears below:
Secretary Kathleen Sebelius
Department of Health and Human Services
Attention: OCIIO–9995–IFC,
Mail Stop C4–26–05
7500 Security Boulevard
Baltimore, MD 21244–1850
Re:
OCIIO–9995–IFC
Dear
Secretary Sebelius:
We
are writing in response to the interim final rule the Department of Health and
Human Services released on July 30th, 2010 that restricts women’s access to
abortion coverage (except for the limited cases of rape, incest, and life
endangerment) in the new
Pre-Existing Condition Insurance Plans (PCIP) established by Section 1101
of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.
We
strongly disagree with the Department’s decision to ban coverage for abortion
services in PCIP —which impacts both high-risk insurance pools that are
administered by the Department, as well as pools that are run by individual
states. We went to great lengths during the health reform debate to
ensure women would be able to access comprehensive reproductive health care
coverage. It was especially important that women not be barred from using
their private funds to do so. Health care reform [the Affordable Care Act]
maintains current legal restrictions against using federal funding for
abortions, but also allows women to purchase reproductive health care coverage
with their own funds. This interim final rule goes farther than that. In
addition to prohibiting federal funds from being used for abortion under PCIP,
the interim final rule restricts the use of private or state funds for the
purchase of abortion coverage through these high-risk insurance pools.
This limitation
is both unnecessary and unreasonable. There is nothing in the Affordable
Care Act that restricts women’s access to these services in the PCIP.
As a
result, women with pre-existing conditions, including cancer, diabetes, and
HIV/AIDS, will be left with inadequate coverage. This is especially
troubling because many pre-existing conditions are linked to high-risk
pregnancies; these are the very women who may find themselves most in need of
abortion coverage.
Congress
established the new PCIP to provide comprehensive coverage for Americans with
pre-existing conditions before the state-based health insurance exchanges are
operational in 2014. The high-risk insurance pool program is intended to
level the playing field for Americans who have been unfairly marginalized by
the current health insurance marketplace. As such, the program should
ensure that women with pre-existing conditions have access to coverage on par
with currently available health plans—which generally include abortion.
We are especially troubled by the fact that the guidance does not allow states
the option to offer this assurance to women in state-run
plans.
We
respectfully urge you to reconsider this decision, and we look forward to
continuing to work with you to implement the law in a way that enables women to
access the health insurance coverage and services they need to stay
healthy.
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