Fighting for coverage of abortion in your state insurance exchange

The health reform legislation that Congress enacted earlier this year allows states to decide whether insurers can offer abortion coverage in the state insurance exchanges that will be established in 2014. Some states already have passed legislation to ban such coverage, and others may see it prohibited through ballot initiatives. This presentation will explain what women's health advocates can do to fight such proposed abortion bans in state Legislatures and at the ballot box. It also will describe the onerous requirements the health reform law will impose on insurers in those states that do choose to offer abortion coverage in their insurance exchanges. These requirements (known as the Nelson provision) require strict segregation of federal subsidies from private insurance payments toward abortion coverage. Participants will learn how advocates can work to minimize the impact of those requirements on consumers and insurers, thus increasing the likelihood that abortion coverage will actually be available.