The New Health Dialogue

There's plenty of news about how the House is moving ahead toward a decisive health reform vote; (here's one account of the complex House process in the Washington Post). But health reform got one significant endorsement this weekend -- from the Catholic Health Association no less -- that didn't get as much attention amidst all the focus on House vote-gathering and CBO bill-scoring.

Abortion, as you know, is one of the most deeply personal and politically complex aspects of health reform, and the fighting over the House versus the Senate language has been a stumbling block. Sister Carol Keehan, DC, president and CEO of the Catholic Health Association released a statement saying the Senate language is strong enough for them -- and pointing out that a bill that covers more than 30 million Americans AND promotes adoption services should pass. She said:

CHA has a major concern on life issues. We said there could not be any federal funding for abortions and there had to be strong funding for maternity care, especially for vulnerable women. The bill now being considered allows people buying insurance through an exchange to use federal dollars in the form of tax credits and their own dollars to buy a policy that covers their health care. If they choose a policy with abortion coverage, then they must write a separate personal check for the cost of that coverage.

There is a requirement that the insurance companies be audited annually to assure that the payment for abortion coverage fully covers the administrative and clinical costs, that the payment is held in a separate account from other premiums, and that there are no federal dollars used.

In addition, there is a wonderful provision in the bill that provides $250 million over 10 years to pay for counseling, education, job training and housing for vulnerable women who are pregnant or parenting. Another provision provides a substantial increase in the adoption tax credit and funding for adoption assistance programs.

The final abortion language will probably be the Senate’s, reports Roll Call. Though some abortion opponents want to see the language go farther, many believe the Senate language upholds previously established precedents (aka the Hyde amendment) in prohibiting public funding of abortion. As Keehan told the AP, "On the moral issue of abortion, there is no disagreement" with other pro-life organizations. The fight, as she sees it, is a technical one over wording. For her, the Senate bill does the job.