The department of Health and Human Services announced that it will enforce a new rule designed to prevent publicly funded health insurance programs from using federal tax dollars.Health and Human Services Secretary Alex Azar stated that these rules will require health insurance plans that use federal funding and provide abortion care will have to bill abortion care separately from other insurance.
“Being good stewards of taxpayer dollars and faithfully implementing the law are among the most important duties HHS has, and that’s what we’re doing with this rule. The rule is part of much broader efforts at CMS, under Administrator Verma, to improve program integrity and reduce improper payments.
“In addition, when an exchange plan covers abortions for which public funding is prohibited by federal law, this rule requires that customers receive separate bills for that abortion coverage and for the rest of their insurance. Providing these separate bills is an essential step in implementing the Affordable Care Act’s bar on tax credits going toward coverage of abortions for which public funding is prohibited. The separate billing requirement fulfills Congress’ intent and reflects President Trump’s strong commitment to preventing taxpayer funding of abortion coverage.”
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