Judge strikes down HHS rule on ‘abortion surcharge’ in health plan exchanges

July 13, 2020 CNA Daily News News Briefs 0 Print

Washington D.C., Jul 13, 2020 / 05:02 pm (CNA).- A federal judge has struck down a rule from the Trump administration requiring greater transparency for health insurance plans within the Affordable Care Act marketplaces that cover elective abortions.

On Friday, U.S. District Judge Catherine Blake ruled against a regulation introduced by the Department of Health and Human Services to require insurance plans under the Affordable Care Act to issue a separate bill and collect a separate payment for coverage of elective abortion.

Section 1303 of the Affordable Care Act 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 regulation was included as a compromise in the law to ensure it received the support necessary for its passage.

Critics, however, argued that Obama-era enforcement regulations were so permissive as to render the rules meaningless, allowing health insurers to collect an abortion surcharge without separately identifying it on monthly invoices or collecting it separately.

A Government Accountability Office report in 2014 found that many insurers were ignoring Section 1303’s requirements.

Pro-life advocates have called for greater transparency in order to prevent a “hidden abortion surcharge” which many enrollees may be unaware of when choosing a plan.

Last year, the Department of Health and Human Services proposed a new rule that would require insurance to issue a separate bill and collect a separate payment for the abortion coverage.

Planned Parenthood of Maryland sued over the new regulation, saying it caused confusion and could lead insurance companies to stop covering elective abortions in order to avoid increases in cost and complications.

Judge Blake said the Affordable Care Act did not specify how to ensure abortion coverage payments would be separate. She said the Department of Health and Human Services failed to explain why its process was a more fitting solution than the previous regulations.

HHS did not comment on the ruling, but said it is reviewing the decision, the Washington Post reported.

 

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Catholics in US express frustration over border security stalemate

January 9, 2019 CNA Daily News 2

Washington D.C., Jan 9, 2019 / 04:10 pm (CNA/EWTN News).- On Tuesday evening, US President Donald Trump highlighted humanitarian problems present along the US-Mexico border and issued a call for increased security, including the construction of additional barriers on the border. His remarks were met with mixed reactions and frustration from Catholics across the United States.

Among the points raised by Trump in his Jan. 8 address is that approximately 90 percent of the heroin supply in the United States enters the country through the border with Mexico. “More Americans will die from drugs this year than were killed in the entire Vietnam War,” said Trump.

Trump also highlighted the dangers of the journey from Central America to the United States, saying he feared children were being used as “pawns” by “vicious coyotes and ruthless gangs.”

Isaac Cuevas, the director of immigration and public affairs for the Archdiocese of Los Angeles, told CNA that while he agrees with Trump’s assessment that there is a humanitarian crisis at the border, he did not believe either Trump’s address, or the response by Democratic leaders Sen. Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and House Speaker Nancy Pelosi (D-CA), were signs that progress will be made.

“Both sides agree that immigration is an issue that can no longer be ignored, but they also need to agree on where change has to start,” Cuevas said.

“These challenges in migration will not go away with the implementation of barriers, but we all agree that the system, especially from a legal standpoint, is broken and needs help.”

Cuevas told CNA he thinks that it would be a “common-sense solution” for both parties to work together and create a plan that would both strengthen security at the border and create a way for people who are already here to obtain legal status: “A pathway to citizenship, for good people making positive contributions in our communities and to our way of life in this country,” he said.

Bishop Daniel Flores of the Diocese of Brownsville, which is located along the southern border, tweeted Jan. 9: “Mothers and children are fleeing the very criminal elements that we ourselves recognize represent a mortal danger. Are we not capable of sustaining a response that both protects the vulnerable and restrains the menace?”

Cardinal Joseph Tobin of Newark said Jan. 9 of “Tuesday’s immigration speeches” that he was deeply disappointed by “the dehumanizing words used to describe our immigrant sisters and brothers. These men, women and children are neither numbers, nor criminal statistics, but flesh and blood people with their own stories and histories. Most are fleeing human misery and brutal violence that threatens their lives. False and fear-filled caricatures seek to provoke a sort of amnesia that would have this great nation deny our roots in immigrants and refugees.”

The cardinal quoted Pope Francis, and then said, “Those coming to our borders seeking asylum or escaping crushing poverty are not pawns in a political debate, but rather the strangers and aliens our Scriptures constantly instruct us to welcome … I beg all our legislative leaders to come together for the common good.”

The stalemate over the border wall continues amid the USCCB’s National Migration Week, taking place Jan. 6-12. The week’s theme this year is “Building Communities of Welcome”.

Bishop Joe Vasquez of Austin, chair of the USCCB Committee on Migration, said Jan. 4 that “In this moment, it is particularly important for the Church to highlight the spirit of welcome that we are all called to embody in response to immigrant and refugee populations who are in our midst sharing our Church and our communities.”

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