Michigan Abortion Insurance Opt-Out Act

Public Act 182 of 2013, colloquially known as the “Rape Insurance Bill” bans private and public health insurance plans from offering coverage for abortion except through the purchase of an optional rider, which insurance companies, HMOs, and employers are not required to provide and which must be purchased prior to pregnancy.

The legislation also prohibits health-care providers from being reimbursed for abortions under general insurance policies unless the reimbursement is from a special optional rider policy purchased by the patient.

The legislation does not apply to abortion necessary to avert a woman’s death.

STATUS

This legislation contains provisions from multiple bills that were introduced and failed to pass in the house and senate, all of which were aimed at banning private and public insurance plans from covering “elective abortion” unless the patient purchases separate health insurance for abortion coverage. (See HB 4597, HB 4065, and HB 4066, and their companion bills, SB 139, SB 137, and SB 138.) This legislation began as a citizen-initiated petition by Right to Life of Michigan, which took advantage of an obscure law that allows 3 percent of residents to send a bill directly to the legislature, which can then pass the law without the governor’s veto.

Organizations

• Right to Life of Michigan