NPR Examines Accuracy Of Statements On Abortion Coverage At Health Reform Town-Hall Meeting

Main Category: Abortion
Also Included In: Health Insurance / Medical Insurance
Article Date: 13 Aug 2009 - 2:00 PDT

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NPR's "All Things Considered" on Tuesday included a discussion with Robert Farley of the fact-checking Web site Politifact.com on how the House health reform bill (HR 3200) would address abortion coverage under the public plan option. Farley's site examined the accuracy of Sen. Arlen Specter's (D-Pa.) comments on abortion coverage at a Lebanon, Pa., town-hall meeting on Tuesday. When asked whether health plans could cover abortion services, Specter noted that the Senate has not voted on any measures and suggested an approach. "If you want to have a health care plan, which does not have payment for abortions, you can have that one where you'll not be charged for somebody who has an abortion. Now, if you want a different health care plan, an option where you can have payment for abortion and you pay for it, because there'd be a little bigger premium, you have the choice of being in one plan or the other."

Farley said that when his site "specifically looked at the question of whether federal tax dollars will be used to subsidize abortion," it found "that kind of language isn't in any of the versions of the plan that are kicking around in Congress." Under an amendment by Rep. Lois Capps (D-Calif.) added to the House Energy and Commerce Committee's version of the bill, abortion coverage is "not required but it is allowable," Farley said. He added that the amendment would "segregat[e] the money that would be used to cover abortions" and "specifically prohibit federal dollars from being used to subsidize abortions." He continued, "Any of that money that would be used for abortion coverage would have to be paid through the premiums paid by an insured person" and not from government funding. Therefore, Specter was correct in his assertion that people would have options on abortion coverage, according to Farley. He said, "According to the Capps Amendment, there would be options available for people who wanted to have abortion coverage, as well as for those who do not. In fact, it's required that every region offer one of each type of plan."

Farley also noted that studies show that between 45% and 80% of women with employer-sponsored health insurance currently have abortion coverage. "And so, the argument [made by abortion-rights supporters] then is that if the government plan were to disallow that, you would essentially be stripping that coverage from people who ... currently get that," he said (Block, "All Things Considered," NPR, 8/11).

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