Obamacare’s Abortion Surcharge and Taxpayer Funding of Abortion Coverage

By Sarah Torre

Obamacare will entangle taxpayer funds in abortion coverage offered on state and federal exchanges and could force many Americans to unwittingly pay a surcharge for elective abortion.

This system could potentially place many Americans in an unwanted and unnecessary dilemma, forced to choose between violating their values by directly subsidizing abortion coverage or forfeiting the health care coverage that most closely meets their families’ unique needs.

Federal Dollars Will Be Available for Health Plans That Cover Elective Abortion

Obamacare requires that all individuals obtain health insurance by January 1, 2014, either through their employers or elsewhere, that meets minimum federal benefits requirements. Millions of Americans will look to state and federally run health insurance exchanges to purchase such qualified health plans and avoid federal fines.

For the first time, the federal government will provide an “affordability tax credit” to millions of low- and middle-income individuals and families to help subsidize the purchase of health plans on the exchanges.[1] These federal tax credits could facilitate the purchase of overall health plans for millions of Americans who did not have such coverage previously. Many of these plans could cover elective abortion.

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