This bill would require the federal government to cover abortion services under Medicaid, Medicare, and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP). The government would also be charged with preventing any restrictions on that coverage.
Under current law, the Hyde Amendment prevents federal funds from being used for abortions. That ban would end if this bill were made into law. The federal government would also be required to:
Ensure abortion coverage through public health insurance programs (including Medicaid, Medicare, and CHIP);
As an employer or health plan sponsor, ensure abortion coverage for its participants and beneficiaries;
As a provider of health services, ensure that abortion care is available to (eligible) people its facilities or in the facilities of companies it contracts with to provide medical care.
This legislation would bar the federal government from prohibiting, restricting, or otherwise inhibiting insurance coverage of abortion care by state or local governments, or by private health plans. State and local governments would be barred from the same activities.
Additionally, this legislation expresses the sense of Congress that the federal government should serve as a model for the nation in terms of ensuring the coverage of abortion care through its role as an insurer, employer, and health care provider. It also adds that Congress believes restrictions on coverage of abortion care in the private insurance market must end.
Women's Health
Insurance
Health
Abortion
Government
States
