With the beginning of the latest open enrollment period for health insurance plans offered the Covered California state health care exchange, the bishops of the California Catholic Conference have identified two plans available to Orange County residents that do not cover elective abortions.
The two plans listed below both specifically exclude “abortions for which public funding is prohibited” and were scheduled to be available when open enrollment began on Nov. 15. The open enrollment period ends on Feb. 15, 2015.
According to Covered California, “’Abortion for which [Federal] public funding is prohibited is synonymous with elective abortions. Abortions where public funding is allowed only includes abortions resulting from an act of rape, incest, or where a woman suffers from a physical disorder, physical injury, or physical illness, or other life endangering physical condition.”
Catholic teaching prohibits abortion for any reason and does not consider abortion to be health care.
Subsidies for lower income enrollees are available. However, currently health insurance is offered only to citizens and legal permanent residents. The U.S. Catholic Bishops continue to advocate for health care that respects life, is affordable and is available to all.
The two plans that exclude elective abortion coverage both are offered by Anthem Blue Cross: the Silver 70 EPO and the Gold 80 EPO multi-state plans
The Covered California exchange may be accessed online at coveredca.com.
