Have you heard this one yet? That the Senate public option requires a "monthly abortion fee"? Apparently, Boehner claims on his blog that "a monthly abortion premium will be charged of all enrollees in the government-run health plan" under the Senate bill.
Here's what RHRealityCheck has to say about the fiction, and the fact:
FICTION: The GOP blog states:
Beginning on line 7, p. 118, section 1303 under “Voluntary Choice of Coverage of Abortion Services” the Health and Human Services Secretary is given the authority to determine when abortion is allowed under the government-run health plan. Leader Reid’s plan also requires that at least one insurance plan offered in the Exchange covers abortions (line 13, p. 120).
FACT: What the bill does say:
Abortion cannot be a mandated benefit as part of a minimum benefits package. A qualified health plan would determine whether it will cover: a) no abortions or only those abortions allowed under Hyde (rape, incest and life endangerment) or b) abortions beyond those allowed by Hyde.
According to Senate aides:
The Patient Protection and Affordable Choices Act (PPAC) does not require health plans to cover abortion. No health plan will be required to cover abortions in their benefits package....
This is in fact a change from past practice: In the current marketplace, there is no guarantee that a pro-life person can buy a policy that doesn't offer abortion coverage.
FICTION: The GOP post states:
What is even more alarming is that a monthly abortion premium will be charged of all enrollees in the government-run health plan. It’s right there beginning on line 11, page 122, section 1303, under “Actuarial Value of Optional Service Coverage.” The premium will be paid into a U.S. Treasury account – and these federal funds will be used to pay for the abortion services. [emphasis added].
Section 1303(a)(2)(C) describes the process in which the Health Benefits Commissioner is to assess the monthly premiums that will be used to pay for elective abortions under the government-run health plan and for those who are given an affordability credit to purchase insurance coverage that includes abortion through the Exchange. The Commissioner must charge at a minimum $1 per enrollee per month.
FACT:
* PPAC does not allow federal funds to be used for abortion care. Tax credits or cost sharing subsidies may not be used for abortions except in cases of rape, incest or if the life of the mother is endangered.
* Instead--and to ensure no federal dollars are used--private premiums will be segregated from public funds, and only private premiums could pay for abortion services beyond those permitted by the Hyde Amendment, the longstanding federal law governing abortion.
In other words, the bill goes out of its way to segregate private premiums that might be used to cover abortion care from public dollars.
Not that fact will will prevent Boehner or the Republicans from pushing this fiction, but it's worth putting the truth out there, anyway. To that end, the DNC has also released a statement, including this snippet:
With such clear evidence to the contrary, we'd like to believe that this is the last time we'll hear this scare-tactic from Boehner and the Party of NO... but since all Republicans have to offer are more lies, we're not counting on it.