| FOR IMMEDIATE RELEASE December 20, 2019 |
CONTACT: Mallory Quigley [email protected] 202-223-8073 |
Separate Payments Rule Will Enforce the Law & Protect Consumers
Washington, D.C. – Today the national pro-life group Susan B. Anthony List (SBA List) celebrated as the Trump administration finalized a new rule enforcing the Obamacare statute that requires insurers selling Obamacare plans that cover elective abortion to collect a separate payment from enrollees for that coverage. The Obama administration sidestepped the law by allowing insurers to collect payments for elective abortion coverage together with other service fees
“We thank President Trump, Acting Director Vought, Secretary Azar, Administrator Verma, and all who worked to finalize this rule to enforce the law and provide transparency about abortion funding hiding in Obamacare,” said SBA List President Marjorie Dannenfelser. “Obamacare was the largest expansion of taxpayer-funded abortion since Roe v. Wade, dramatically increasing abortion funding by subsidizing plans that cover abortion on demand. Making this dramatic expansion even more onerous, the Obama administration allowed insurers to ignore the law by burying the abortion surcharge in plan documents instead of collecting it separately. This new rule will ensure compliance so that ‘separate’ no longer means ‘together’ when it comes to funding abortion. President Trump has delivered an important victory for American consumers and taxpayers, the majority of whom oppose using tax dollars to pay for abortions.”
Open enrollment for the 2020 plan year has ended. In 12 of 24 states plus the District of Columbia that provide taxpayer-funded Obamacare insurance plans, 80 percent or more of those plans cover abortion on demand. In eight of those locales, every single Obamacare plan for individuals and families covers elective abortion. SBA List’s research arm the Charlotte Lozier Institute (CLI) and Family Research Council launched Obamacareabortion.com in 2014 as a resource to help consumers find health plans that do not include elective abortion.
Dannenfelser added:
“We’re thankful to our allies in Congress who have remained vigilant in seeking to protect the conscience rights of their pro-life constituents and health care consumers. The dedicated leadership of Representatives Chris Smith, Michael Cloud, Jeff Duncan, as well as Senator Cindy Hyde-Smith was instrumental in securing enforcement of this rule.”
In 2018, Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ) led 102 members in sending an initial letter to HHS requesting law enforcement regulations to make consumers aware of the abortion surcharge. In 2019, he joined Rep. Michael Cloud (R-TX) in authoring a letter signed by 50 Members of Congress urging HHS to address the hidden surcharge that continued to fund abortion. Later in July, another letter was sent to urge finalization, co-authored by Sen. Cindy Hyde-Smith and Rep. Michael Cloud. 103 Members of Congress and 25 U.S. Senators signed the letter. Most recently in October of this year, Rep. Jeff Duncan sent a final letter to urge the enforcement of the separate payments rule leading up to the Obamacare open enrollment period, signed by 85 Members of Congress.
SBA List is a network of more than 837,000 pro-life Americans nationwide, dedicated to ending abortion by electing national leaders and advocating for laws that save lives, with a special calling to promote pro-life women leaders.
###
