Frequently Asked Questions (FAQ) On Health Care Reform

• What do the health care reform plans currently in Congress say about the unborn?
• You say the plans would mandate abortion coverage. How would they do that?
• Doesn’t the Hyde Amendment protect taxpayers from having to fund abortions?
• I heard that the health care reform plans would enable people to choose which insurance plan they want. Those plans would then be funded by individuals’ premiums. Wouldn’t that ensure that taxpayer money would not pay for abortions?
• I get my reproductive-health check-ups from Planned Parenthood, but I would never consider getting an abortion. If Congress followed Americans United for Life’s principles for health care reform, wouldn’t that force me to find another provider?
• Is it true that the health care reform plans would encourage doctors to perform euthanasia?
• Do the plans really contain provisions for “death panels”?

What do the health care reform plans currently in Congress say about the unborn?

Very little. In fact, despite the Democratic Congress’ insistence that any health care reform considered must provide some form of health insurance for all children, the current health care reform bills do not explicitly cover unborn children under Medicaid. However, the bills would require taxpayer funded abortion. Health care for children begins before birth, and health care reform must recognize this by providing health insurance coverage for unborn children as well. [top]

You say the plans would mandate abortion coverage. How would they do that?

H.R. 3200, the Senate HELP bill, and the Senate Finance (Baucus) bill mandate abortion funding and coverage in a number of ways, including but not limited to:

1. The Capps amendment to H.R. 3200 permits and may require abortion coverage in the public health insurance plan.
2. Both the Capps amendment to H.R. 3200 and the Baucus bill permit taxpayer funding of private plans that cover elective abortion and mandate that one private insurance plan in every coverage area includes abortion.
3. The Senate HELP bill delegates to a “Medical Advisory Committee” the role of deciding what benefits any private or public health care plan must offer. This Committee is expected to include abortion as a required minimum benefit.
4. Prior court holdings that state that abortion is included within several of Medicaid’s mandatory categories of care (inpatient services, outpatient services, and preventative care) will certainly apply to any federal statute  involving health care reform.
5. The rejection of several key pro-life amendments in the House and Senate Committees, which would have ensured that abortion was not funded or covered in the bills, demonstrates that the bills are intended to mandate abortion. [top]

Doesn’t the Hyde Amendment protect taxpayers from having to fund abortions?

Not necessarily. The Hyde Amendment is not a statute, but is an appropriations “rider” that requires Congressional approval each year. Therefore, it can be eliminated at the whim of Congress. Furthermore, even if the Hyde Amendment continues to be added to the Health and Human Services (HHS) appropriations bill each year, the Hyde amendment may prevent only the funds appropriated in that bill from being used for abortions. The health care reform bills currently before Congress would bypass the annual appropriations process by self appropriating. In other words, the Appropriations Committee may have no jurisdiction over the health care bills; therefore, the health care reform bills themselves must include an explicit prohibition on taxpayer funded abortion. [top]

I heard that the health care reform plans would enable people to choose which insurance plan they want. Those plans would then be funded by individuals’ premiums. Wouldn’t that ensure that taxpayer money would not pay for abortions?

No. Under the health care reform bills before Congress, individuals will continue to choose their health insurance plans. The federal government will cover the cost of insurance for individuals at certain income levels.  However, the federal government will be using everyone’s tax dollars to cover the costs associated with the public plan and the subsidies provided to private health insurance plans. Therefore, because the public plan and many private plans will cover abortions, everyone’s tax dollars will pay for abortions. [top]

I get my reproductive-health check-ups from Planned Parenthood, but I would never consider getting an abortion. If Congress followed Americans United for Life’s principles for health care reform, wouldn’t that force me to find another provider?

No. There is nothing in the health care bills before Congress that would adversely affect the ability of Planned Parenthood to continue its operations as it does today. Neither is AUL proposing any changes that would adversely affect Planned Parenthood’s ability to continue operations as it currently does today. [top]

Is it true that the health care reform plans would encourage doctors to perform euthanasia?

The word “euthanasia” is not in the proposals currently being considered by Congress. However, H.R. 3200, section 1233 addresses end of life care. The section leaves unclear whether the government or a health care provider could counsel or encourage a patient to choose physician-assisted suicide as a solution to terminal illness. While section 1233 remains in the bill, an amendment offered by the “Blue Dog Democrats” and accepted by the Energy and Commerce Committee, Sec. 138, prevents the “promotion” of assisted suicide (though not the practice of it), and makes it clear that material distributed by Qualifying Health Benefits Plans (QHBPs) “shall not include advanced directives or other planning tools that list or describe as an option suicide, assisted suicide or the intentional hastening of death regardless of legality.” (However, there is an exception to this for states which already require this information to be listed.)  However, it is unclear how the potentially conflicting Section 1233 and Section 138 relate to one another.

Furthermore, when health care providers are forced to go over a list of government-mandated questions regarding end-of-life with elderly patients, in order to receive reimbursement, this process could subtly pressure the patients to make decisions based on cost-saving rather than best medicine. [top]

Do the plans really contain provisions for “death panels”?

Not exactly. As discussed in the previous answer, H.R. 3200 allows health care providers to receive reimbursement for end-of-life counseling as long as the providers adhere to specific requirements. This provision is troubling because it allows the government to control a very private conversation between a doctor and patient, and could subtly pressure patients to make end-of-life decisions they would not otherwise make. [top]