Catholic Hospital System Ends Joint Venture With Mass. Insurer Over Differences On Abortion

Main Category: Abortion
Also Included In: Health Insurance / Medical Insurance
Article Date: 30 Jun 2009 - 3:00 PDT

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Massachusetts-based Catholic hospital system Caritas Christi Health Care on Friday ended its joint venture with the Missouri-based health insurer Centene after Cardinal Sean O'Malley of the Archdiocese of Boston insisted that the relationship linked Catholic hospitals too closely to abortion providers, the AP/San Francisco Chronicle reports (AP/San Francisco Chronicle, 6/27). Under the joint venture, Caritas and Centene created a new company, CeltiCare, which would have insured thousands of low-income Massachusetts residents under Commonwealth Care, the state's subsidized health care program.

Financially troubled Caritas, which was founded by the Archdiocese of Boston, said it will continue to participate as a provider in Commonwealth Care but will no longer be a co-owner of the insurance venture with Centene. Caritas will provide care to patients covered by Centene, as it does for patients covered by other private insurers, but it will not provide any services that violate Catholic teachings, such as abortions or sterilizations.

In terminating the joint venture, the archdiocese hopes to appease criticism that Caritas would have profited from abortion and other services provided at non-Catholic medical centers, the Boston Globe reports. According to the archdiocese, O'Malley sought the withdrawal after weeks of consultation with the church-affiliated think tank National Catholic Bioethics Center, in response to harsh criticism from antiabortion-rights groups for not blocking the agreement. The withdrawal is "a vindication of sorts" for O'Malley's critics, who have argued that it would be wrong for Caritas to enter an agreement with a health insurer that covers abortion care, according to the Globe.

Andrea Miller, the executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Massachusetts, said that Caritas' involvement in the joint venture had raised concern from NARAL because of the Catholic Church's opposition to abortion rights. She said that although Caritas has withdrawn from the venture, "[t]he question remains: Will the involvement of Caritas Christi health providers negatively affect women's ability to get timely access to reproductive services, including birth control?" Miller added that NARAL hopes that state regulators "will continue due diligence to ensure that referrals and services are provided in a manner that does not delay access to reproductive health services" (Paulson/Lazar, Boston Globe, 6/27).

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