Pro-Choice Caucus Democrats in the House of Representatives are citing a study by five professors and researchers in the School of Public Health and Health Services on the long-term implications of the Stupak amendment, a last minute addition to the health care reform bill that passed the House.
The study found that the Stupak amendment – which is designed to impose restrictions on how abortions could be offered by a government-run insurance plan and through private insurance bought using government subsidies from the health care plan – would eliminate insurance coverage for medically indicated abortions in the long run, and not just those covered by the new health care plan.
The study, released on Nov. 16 by the SPHHS, was cited on the blog of Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., on medical and reproductive health Web sites, by Democracy Now!, and by US News and World Report.
On her blog, DeGette, the Democrats’ chief deputy whip, wrote, “The Stupak-Pitts restrictions on a woman’s right to choose are dangerous and unprecedented,” said DeGette. “They go far beyond current law by telling women they cannot use their own private dollars to purchase a health insurance plan that offers a full-range of reproductive services. The health care bill should be about providing health care to over 36 million Americans – not about further restricting a woman’s right to choose.”
From the study, written by Chair of the Department of Health Policy Sara Rosenbaum, research professors Lara Cartwright-Smith and Ross Margulies, professor Susan Wood and lead researcher D. Richard Mauery:
“In view of how the health benefit services industry operates and how insurance product design responds to broad regulatory intervention aimed at reshaping product content, we conclude that the treatment exclusions required under As a result, Stupak/Pitts can be expected to move the industry away from current norms of coverage for medically indicated abortions. In combination with the Hyde Amendment, Stupak/Pitts will impose a coverage exclusion for medically indicated abortions on such a widespread basis that the health benefit services industry can be expected to recalibrate product design downward across the board in order to accommodate the exclusion in selected markets.”
