Month: December 2019

Washington D.C., Dec 23, 2019 / 03:00 pm (CNA).- The U.S. bishops have welcomed changes to the way abortion coverage is billed in some federally-funded health plan exchanges, saying the changes will allow Americans to choose health care plans consistent with their views.

Those who purchase health plans “have a right to know if they are paying for elective abortion,” said Archbishop Joseph F. Naumann of Kansas City in Kansas, chairman of the Committee on Pro-Life Activities for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops.

“While the Affordable Care Act still allows government-subsidized plans to cover abortion, at least with this rule, Americans can now see and try to avoid complicity by choosing plans consistent with their consciences,” he said Dec. 23.

“I commend the administration for enforcing the law, for its efforts to ensure transparency in healthcare, and for attempting to respect unborn human life.”

Section 1303 of the Affordable Care Act, passed in 2010, mandates that if a qualified health plan covers elective abortions, it must do so by collecting a payment separate from the standard premium, and depositing that payment into a separate account. The previous regulations allowed for health insurers to collect an abortion surcharge without separately identifying it on monthly invoices and without collecting it separately.

That changed on Dec. 20, when the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services issued the Exchange Program Integrity final rule.

One of its new provisions concerns health insurance exchange plans set up under the Affordable Care Act and covering elective abortions—procedures which under federal law cannot be funded with federal funds.

These plans must now send customers separate health insurance bills for abortion coverage. The agency justified the rule on the grounds that it better aligns with congressional intent in segregating payments for elective abortion.

The rule appears to allow consumers to avoid payment on the surcharge without losing coverage. The fact sheet for the rule states “if the policy holder fails to pay the separate bill in a separate transaction as instructed by the issuer, the issuer may not terminate the policy holder’s coverage on this basis, provided the amount due is otherwise paid.”

Critics have long argued that enforcement of these regulations under the Obama administration was so permissive as to render the rules meaningless. A Government Accountability Office report in 2014 found that many insurers were ignoring requirements to segregate abortion coverage funds.

The Trump administration rule had been proposed about a year ago, but it had not been finalized and implemented.

Marjorie Dannenfelser, president of the Susan B. Anthony List, said the rule “will ensure compliance so that ‘separate’ no longer means ‘together’ when it comes to funding abortion.” The law will “provide transparency about abortion funding hiding in Obamacare,” she said, referring to the 2010 health care legislation.

“President Trump has delivered an important victory for American consumers and taxpayers, the majority of whom oppose using tax dollars to pay for abortions.”

Jacqueline Ayers, vice president of government relations and public policy at Planned Parenthood, opposed the rule on the grounds it tried to reduce access to abortion.

“This rule won’t just require separate payments, it further splits off abortion from other reproductive health care and puts up massive barriers to access,” she said.

Ayers added that Planned Parenthood, which is the largest abortion provider in the U.S., “vehemently opposes this rule and will continue our work to stop the administration’s attacks on our health and rights.”

The Association for Community Affiliated Plans, which has 60 Medicaid-focused health care plans, also opposed the rule, CNN reports.

“Requiring people to pay two bills for one product — health coverage — is a non-solution in search of a problem,” said Margaret Murray, the association’s CEO.

Critics of the previous rule have sought change under the Trump administration. In 2018 U.S. Rep. Chris Smith (R-N.J.), in a letter to the Department of Health and Human services signed by 102 Members of Congress, requested regulations to make consumers aware of the surcharge.

In October 2019, more than 40 pro-life organizations sent a letter to the Trump administration backing the new changes. Signers included leaders with the Susan B. Anthony List, the National Right to Life Committee, March for Life Action, Americans United for Life, and the American Association of Pro-Life OB-GYNS.

They said that insurance companies could create “hidden abortion surcharges” which mean health plan enrollees are “unknowingly paying into plans that subsidize elective abortion.”

Their letter cited the Hyde Amendment, first passed in 1976, which bars federal funding for most abortions. They objected that the treatment of abortion coverage violates the amendment in principle. Requiring separate payments would help provide transparency.

While the Hyde Amendment applies to federal health care programs including Medicaid, pro-life advocates have voiced concern for years that the Affordable Care Act does not follow its requirements.

Federal rules against taxpayer funding for abortions have had longtime support even among pro-abortion rights politicians, but the Democratic primary candidates for president have increasingly rejected them. Following criticism from pro-abortion rights activists, former vice president Joe Biden retracted his support for the Hyde Amendment in June.

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Washington D.C., Dec 23, 2019 / 02:00 pm (CNA).- The abuse of children is not limited to one organization, and predators can be found anywhere. Headlines in recent months have pointed to abuse withing USA Gymnastics, the Boy Scouts of America, public s… […]

Denver, Colo., Dec 22, 2019 / 04:01 pm (CNA).- When John O’Brien was in high school, his father, while only in his forties, was admitted to an assisted living facility because of Pick’s disease, a rare disorder similar to Alzheimer’s.

“I spent many nights of my high school days and my college days spending time with him in the nursing home. And I realized that not only did my dad need accompaniment and love, but there were a lot of people there that I could tell were very lonely and down and out,” O’Brien told CNA.

“I found it was the simplest things they were looking for, whether it was my dad or other people— they’re just looking for some companionship, someone to talk to, someone to listen to them, someone who would be interested in them. These people are so lonely, but they’re only looking for the simplest things.”

O’Brien recently founded the Aquinas Forum, an initiative to strengthen faith through intellectual formation in the form of courses and lectures. Part of that initiative is a program called Works of Mercy, whereby on any given Sunday, a team of 10-15 people show up for an hour and a half to two hours at a local assisted living facility, Porter Place, to visit seniors.

O’Brien said people often bringing their kids with them, making it a family experience. And of course, he said, the seniors love seeing the children. He said he consulted with people who had done similar ministries in other places, such as in his hometown of Kansas City, and got tips on activities, board games, and other ways to connect with the seniors.

He said he asks team members to sign up for a six-week commitment to start out, and often the experience hooks them in for longer.

Kali Craig is one such participant, who had had a desire to do this kind of ministry for a while in the area where she lives, northwest of Denver, contacting her parish and various other organizations, but was never quite able to get connected until she heard about the Aquinas Forum through an archdiocesan young adult newsletter.

“It wasn’t easy for one person to figure out how to do this and start visiting regularly with seniors,” Craig told CNA.

“The Aquinas Forum opened the door to something I felt I was already called to do.”

Craig said she had helped to take care of her grandmother during her battle with cancer a few years ago, which had confined to her bed for months at a time.

“When [my grandmother] passed, I just felt this longing. I just wanted to reach out and comfort the elderly when they’re sick, or lonely, or whatever their case is,” Craig said.

“I had this longing to do this…but I could never find the way to do it.”

Craig said she was nervous the first time she went to the nursing home, worrying about how she would manage to carry on a conversation with strangers beyond small talk. She said before she went in she was thinking of questions in her head to ask the seniors in case she started to run out of things to say.

Having done the visitations for several weeks now, she said she recommends taking the leap and trying something like this regardless of whether you’re nervous.

“It’s a door that God is opening to you to show your love and be present, and He shows His love through you. You’re not only helping others, but it’s an incredible experience for yourself as well,” she commented.

“It’s transforming our lives just as much as the people we’re talking with.”

She said one of the seniors she and her husband have met on their visitations, Jeff, has only one close family member, who lives three states over. He’s a musician, an avid record collector, and a traveler.

“He is kind of the perfect person we were hoping to find,” she said, laughing.

“Every time we talk with him, it’s like a whole new part of his life that he shares with us. He definitely does most of the talking, we kind of just sit and take it all in and listen, which makes us feel good. That’s kind of our purpose of being there, when someone wants to talk and share their life experiences.”

O’Brien said he sees this apostolate as a fundamental part of the Christian life; sharing mercy with the broken, the lonely, and the oppressed, who are highlighted in the Gospels as people with whom Christians ought to share love.

O’Brien said he had often heard from people, like Kali, who wanted to get involved in an apostolate such as this— often sparked by an experience of a family member in a nursing home, like his father— but had no idea where to start.

“Being involved in faith formation for many years, I heard people say: ‘I love my faith, but I do want to give myself more, though, and serve more, and I’ve found that it’s hard to do that,’” he said.

When considering how he would start such an initiative, O’Brien contacted his friend Dorothy, whom he knew did a Communion service once a week for the elderly at the nursing home. He spent time with her, helping out with the Communion service.

He said he knew getting involved in an apostolate like that would be a wedge to start inviting other friends, so they could befriend some of those seniors that came to the Communion service.

Now, he encourages team members to “gently insert themselves into people’s presence.” The people who want to talk will do so, he said, and the people who don’t want to talk will “just keep moving.”

Spiritual and corporal works of mercy are about loving people through personal presence, he emphasized, and the main mode of evangelization with an initiative like this is giving God’s love through personal presence.

For those not in the Denver area, O’Brien recommended talking to the receptionist at the local nursing home and asking if you and friends can come over, and perhaps even lead a Communion service. He also recommended reading Father Michael Gaitley’s book “You Did it to Me: A Practical Guide to Mercy in Action,” which goes through all the works of mercy and offers practical suggestions.

O’Brien said one of his goals in starting the initiative was to remove as many of the bureaucratic barriers as possible for people who want to start practicing the works of mercy.

“In a bureaucratic society, we always think there’s going to be some method that’s given to us to just do it, and we think we have to learn the right method to do this— whereas the beautiful thing about works of mercy is it’s a lot simpler than that,” he said.

“It’s personal, focused attention. It’s listening. It’s sharing what you’re passionate about. It’s the mystery of personal presence, which actually isn’t bureaucratic at all. So whatever form that someone can take to share their person and God’s love through their person, whatever small humble wedge that is in their corner of the world…as Pope John Paul II said, when we give mercy, we receive mercy,” O’Brien concluded.

“To share God’s love through friendship and through personal presence, at the same time, we receive that.”

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