BILL: Should Abortions be Covered by Insurance? - EACH Act of 2023 - H.R.561

The Bill

H.R.561 - EACH Act of 2023

Bill Details

• Sponsored by Rep. Barbara Lee (D-Calif.) on Jan. 26, 2023
• Committees: House - Energy and Commerce; Ways and Means; Natural Resources; Armed Services; Veterans' Affairs; Judiciary; Oversight and Accountability; Foreign Affairs
• House: Not yet voted
• Senate: Not yet voted
• President: Not yet signed

Bill Overview

• Requires federal health care programs like Medicaid, Medicare, and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) to provide coverage for abortion services and requires federal facilities to provide access to those services.
• Repeals the Hyde Amendment, which restricts Medicaid coverage for abortion. Currently, coverage for abortion services under federal programs is generally only available in the case of rape, incest, or life endangerment. 
• Repeals a provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that permits states to prohibit coverage of abortion services in plans offered through a health insurance exchange.
• The bill is not subject to the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993, which prohibits the federal government from substantially burdening a person's exercise of religion, even if the burden results from the application of a law.

What's in the Bill?

Promotes reproductive justice by ending the Hyde Amendment

• Ends the Hyde Amendment, enacted in 1976, lifting restrictions on abortion coverage for those who depend on Medicaid and other government-sponsored plans. 
• Fifty-five percent of reproductive-age women enrolled in Medicaid live in states that withhold insurance coverage for abortion services.

Broadens abortion access

• Guarantees abortion coverage—regardless of how a patient gets their health insurance
• Currently, 34 states and the District of Columbia do not cover abortion within their state Medicaid programs, except for limited exceptions. 
• When policymakers place restrictions on Medicaid coverage of abortion, it forces one in four low-income women seeking an abortion to carry an unwanted pregnancy to term. Denial of coverage for an abortion can push women deeper into poverty. 

Prohibits political interference in decisions by private health insurance companies to offer coverage for abortion care

• The bill would prevent the federal government from interfering with private insurance companies and their decision to offer coverage for abortion care.
• This includes the insurance marketplaces established by the Affordable Care Act.
• Legislators in 26 states have enacted restrictions that interfere with abortion as a covered health service in plans offered by health insurance exchanges.

What Supporters are Saying

• Rep. Ayanna Pressley (D-Mass.) said:

“Our bodily autonomy is under attack nationwide and the racist and discriminatory Hyde Amendment is yet another barrier preventing millions from accessing safe and legal abortion care – particularly our Black, brown, low-income, and other marginalized communities. With Republicans’ ongoing assault on reproductive justice, we must use every tool available to affirm abortion care as the fundamental human right that it is."

• Rep. Lee said:

“Let’s be clear: the Hyde Amendment is blatantly racist and classist, and keeping it in place is yet another attempt by extremist, out-of-touch Republicans to strip people of this country of their reproductive freedom. For over 40 years, Hyde has forced poor women who are denied insurance coverage for abortions to carry pregnancies to term or pay for care when they’re already struggling to make ends meet. With extreme abortion laws in place in half the country, it is more critical than ever that we fight to make abortion accessible wherever possible. It is past time for our policies to ensure everyone can get the health care they need without shame, punishment, or financial ruin."

What Opponents are Saying

• The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops said:

"To offer women a government-funded abortion, but not the resources she needs to provide for her baby, is not “choice” but coercion."

• The Heritage Foundation said:

"The Hyde Amendment is longstanding, broadly supported, life-saving policy."

Tell your reps to support or oppose this bill

—Emma Kansiz 

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