President Trump to order Obamacare plans to follow the law
Despite adamant denials from pro-abortion politicians and certain "pro-life democrats," Obamacare, as enacted, was designed to fund insurance plans that pay for abortion on demand, and it continues to do so.
One glaring bit of evidence that abortion was being funded, for anyone willing to open their eyes, was a provision in the so-called Affordable Care Act (ACA) that required insurance plans to itemize the amount of money that is to be earmarked for abortion coverage on every, single insurance bill. Furthermore, a separate payment (e.g., check, credit card payment, or electronic funds transfer) for the abortion coverage was required.
Having insurance customers submit a separate amount to pay for abortion (in order to BE able to say that the taxpayer was not paying the bill) was merely an accounting gimmick; money is fungible. But it did help to ensure that customers would be aware that their insurance plan was subsidizing the taking of human lives. It also helped the ongoing battle to prevent abortion from becoming seen as just another "health care service."
In a sham executive order, President Obama pledged to follow the ACA's abortion requirements to the letter. Nevertheless, the separate payment for abortion coverage stipulation was
immediately ignored, and insurance companies were assured that the law did not really mean what it actually said and that the "abortion surcharge" could be hidden away, out of sight and out of mind.
President Trump's Department of Health and Human services has just announced that the law
will be enforced from here on out.
From the U.S. House of Representatives
The following paragraphs are part of a communication published this morning by the pro-life caucus of the U.S. House of Representatives:
On November 9, 2018, HHS will issue a
proposed rule entitled, "Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act; Exchange Program Integrity," which seeks to address a hidden abortion surcharge in many plans purchased on the federal or state Affordable Care Act (ACA ) exchanges. The proposed rule will be available for public comment for 60 days after it is published in the Federal Register.
It will require congressional action to remove abortion from the ACA. In the interim, the proposed rule will strictly enforce the statutory requirement that the abortion surcharge be collected separately from other insurance premiums. This corrects the Obama-era regulation that interpreted "separate" as together, allowing plans to embed the abortion surcharge within the monthly premium.
The proposed rule clarifies that qualified health providers (QHPs) must "send an entirely separate monthly bill" and "instruct the policy subscriber to pay the portion of the premium...in a separate transaction." It provides further guidance for "separate," including that QHPs should send "a separate mailing with separate postage" or "two bills in separate emails."
This rule comes after 102 Pro-Life Members, led by Rep. Chris Smith (R-NJ), sent a
letter to HHS Secretary Alex Azar requesting new regulations to enforce the law and make consumers aware of the "abortion surcharge."