The decision by the Republican legislature not to set up a state health exchange may be good news for abortion rights advocates in North Carolina. Or maybe not.
There are efforts underway in 21 states that are setting up state health care exchanges to stop health insurance companies from paying for abortions for women, NBC News is reporting. The latest was legislation signed last Monday by Arkansas Gov. Mike Beebe.
The Affordable Care Act allows state to set up health insurance exchange market places and allows states to set up rules for states that take part. But states like North Carolina that decline to set up an exchange will rely on the federal government to run them.
But one expert said there even with the federal government running the exchange, there is a provision in the exchange that allows states to ban insurance companies from paying for abortion for being who purchase their insurance from the exchange.
Among the states which have passed laws banning health insurance exchanges from paying for abortions are Kansas, Nebraska, Utah, Alabama, Arizona, Florida, Idaho, Indiana, Louisiana, Mississippi, Ohio, Oklahoma, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Virginia and Wisconsin.
Comments
Whoa.
February 19, 2013 - 6:45am — ManyesAre you saying that you think the States have a say in what these plans will offer? You are saying this after the war on women (at least on the only issue you claim women care about - contraception) was won with mandatory contraception offerred by each and every plan? I believe you are wrong. The O-care version of these HIE differs from the version the Heritage group suggested many years ago because the O-care version will NOT allow the STates flexibility in defining the plans. Thereby destroying the possible savings envisioned by the Heritage foundation.