ABORTION!!!!!

[kahljorn]

Are abortions covered by normal health insurance if they are for reasons other than that pregnancy might be a danger to the mother? I can understand that not being covered, because it's almost cosmetic
Will the nationalized healthcare cover abortions which are done for the safety and well-being of the mother? Because, if not, that would be a travesty.

They'll still be able to get abortions completely outside of healthcare, right? its just that the federal government won't handle it...?

[george]

frm what i gather it is like this:

1. right now most (85%) private health plans cover abortion.

2. only health plans traded on the federal exchange would be barred from covering abortions. but since the fed exchange will be pretty much the only place to buy affordable health insurance, most middle class and poor women would not be able to get a plan that covers abortion, regardless of the reason for it.

so unless you are uber wealthy, a woman would essentially be unable to get health insurance that covers an abortion becuase no insurance company is going to touch it because then their plans would then be removed from the exchange.

in effect it would be an abortion ban for the people most vulnerable to needing coverage for an abortion.

[Chojin]

Originally Posted by george

since the fed exchange will be pretty much the only place to buy affordable health insurance, most middle class and poor women would not be able to get a plan that covers abortion, regardless of the reason for it.

the laws of supply and demand suggest that if the gov't enters the market as a price leader, the rest of the companies will drop their prices to compete

also, people can just get separate abortion insurance elsewhere

and it's not like abortion even costs all that much in the first place