Last week Gov. Tom Corbett signed into law HB818, a bill that forbids plans participating in the health insurance exchanges set up by the Affordable Care Act, aka Obamacare, from funding abortions
The exchanges were created to permit individuals to obtain private health insurance and subsidize the plans of those with low income.
The ACA allows states to block plans participating in these exchanges from covering abortions.
Gov. Corbett did so last week in signing HB818, as the PA Independent reported, thereby preventing plans in Pa. participating in the health insurance exchanges from funding abortions.
While advocates of the bill argue that it merely strengthens a line between taxpayer dollars and abortions, opponents believe it crosses a line because the ban also affects private plans.
157 PoliticsPA readers agreed with the bill’s opponents, while 77 believe it’s a legitimate measure.
Here are the full results:
Is HB818 an overreach, or is it legitimate?
- The bill is an overreach by those who want to restrict access to abortion. (67%)
- The bill is legitimate because it’s in keeping with current policy. (33%)
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3 Responses
Unfortunately, that is incorrect. People purchasing insurance through the public exchange could receive tax credits which could be used to buy insurance that covered abortion, thereby leading to taxpayers paying for abortion coverage. Furthermore, each individual enrolled in an insurance exchange plan that covered abortion would be assessed an abortion surcharge which they would be required to pay, even if they did not want abortion coverage. A federal rule prohibits advertising the fact that these insurance plans include abortion coverage, so the individual would not find out that she/he would be required to pay the abortion surcharge until it was too late. The only way to prevent this situation from occurring was to take advantage of that provision written into the Affordable Care Act which permits states to pass legislation opting out of abortion coverage in the exchanges operating within their states–as more than 20 states have done, passing measures similar to HB 818.
Golde – You can keep saying it, but it won’t make it true. HB818 is about banning the use of private funds for abortion coverage, end of story.
These types of polls are completely unscientific and should not be the basis of news articles. Reputable national polls from CNN, Quinnipiac, and the Polling Company have consistently shown that the vast majority of Americans do not want taxpayer funding of abortion.