Tuesday, November 10, 2009

Confused by the Stupak Amendment?

I don't know about you but I have been having a tough time trying to understand why the Stupak amendment is bad.
I didn't even know that insurance companies covered abortions. It's not a method of birth control. It shouldn't be a regular expense.
When it comes to abortion, both sides exaggerate and no one seems to be telling any truths. Pro choice people are feeling threatened big time though. In my opinion, abortion has become over politicized. As Obama stated, this is a health care bill not an abortion bill.
NPR did a good job of explaining. The Stupak amendment doesn't affect private insurance:
Government Money: In general, government money cannot be used to pay for abortion. The government-administered health plan — often called the public option — will not cover abortion, unless a doctor certifies that a woman is in danger of death without one, or the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest.

If you get your health insurance through the government, or with help from the government in the form of a tax subsidy, your plan will not cover abortion. In this case, you would have the right to buy extra coverage — with your own money.

If you get your health insurance through your state, as in Medicaid, your state could buy supplemental abortion coverage for everyone it insures. And 17 states already do this under Medicaid.
Then there is the exchange part of the proposed healthcare reform:
Private insurance companies that offer a health plan through the exchange are allowed to cover abortion. But if they're going to, the companies must also offer another plan that is identical in every way, except that it does not cover abortion.

So, say you're buying insurance with your own money, and you get it through the exchange. You can choose a policy that covers abortion, or one that doesn't. But if you're getting help from the government to buy that insurance — in the form of a tax subsidy — you may not choose a plan that covers abortion. You are still allowed to buy a supplemental policy with your own money
Contrary to the video below, where Dylan Ratigan gets all uppity and railroads Cathy Ruse (I'm no fan of the Family Research Council, but Cathy Ruse isn't lying), the Stupak amendment doesn't apply to private insurers:
The Stupak amendment does not apply to private insurance bought with private money. It is also not close to becoming law. The Senate bill does not have similar language, though lawmakers on both sides of the debate are now looking at it. NPR
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