No Taxpayer Funding for Abortion and Abortion Insurance Full Disclosure Act of 2017 (S. 184)

S 184 would use the tax code to penalize individuals and small businesses for purchasing health insurance plans through the Affordable Care Act that include coverage for abortion services, except in cases involving rape, incest, or life endangerment. The bill would deny small businesses a tax credit, which amounts to a tax hike on small businesses that include abortion services in their health plans. Eighty-seven percent of private plans include abortion services as part of comprehensive coverage, according to the Huffington Post.

The bill would also permanently prohibit the District of Columbia from using its locally generated tax revenue to provide abortion services to low-income women. (States can choose to fund such abortions, using their own taxing authority.) (Source.) In addition, the bill would block federal funds for abortions for women who are in the military.

The bill would make permanent the Hyde Amendment and related amendments (which already prohibit the use of taxpayer dollars for abortion), and deny Medicaid coverage for abortion, thus forcing one in four poor women to carry an unwanted pregnancy to term, according to the Guttmacher Institute.

Title I: Prohibiting Federally Funded Abortions (Section 101)

S 184 would prohibit the expenditure of federal funds for any abortion. (Currently, federal funds cannot be used for abortion services, except in cases involving rape, incest, or life endangerment.)

The bill would also prohibit federal funds from being used for any health benefits coverage that includes coverage of abortion (thus making permanent existing federal policies).

The bill would prohibit the inclusion of abortion in any health care service furnished by a federal or District of Columbia health care facility or by any physician or other individual employed by the federal government or the District.

The bill would exclude an abortion from such prohibitions if: (1) the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest; or (2) the woman suffers from a physical disorder, injury, or illness, including a life-endangering physical condition caused by or arising from the pregnancy itself, that would place her in danger of death unless an abortion is performed, as certified by a physician.

The bill applies such prohibitions to District of Columbia funds.

Title II: Application Under the Affordable Care Act 

SECTION 201

S 184 would amend the Internal Revenue Code to exclude from the definition of “qualified health plan” after December 31, 2017, for purposes of the refundable tax credit for premium assistance for such plans, any plan that includes coverage for abortion.

The bill would exclude from the definition of “qualified health plan,” for purposes of the tax credit for small employer health insurance expenses, any health plan that includes coverage for abortions.

The bill would exempt from the application of such tax provisions: (1) abortions for pregnancies resulting from rape or incest or in cases where a woman suffers from a physical disorder, injury, or illness that would, as certified by a physician, endanger her life if an abortion were not performed; and (2) the treatment of any infection, injury, disease, or disorder that was caused by or exacerbated by the performance of an abortion.

The bill would require the Director of the Office of Personnel Management (OPM), when entering into contracts for health insurance, to ensure that no multi-state qualified health plan offered in a state health care exchange provides health benefits coverage for which the expenditure of federal funds is prohibited under this Act.

SECTION 202

The bill would amend the Affordable Care Act, with respect to notice provided to health plan enrollees, to require:

• disclosure at the time of enrollment of the extent of coverage of abortion services for which the expenditure of public funds is either prohibited or allowed;
• prominent display in marketing or advertising materials, comparison tools, or summary of benefits and coverage explanation made available by the issuer of the plan, by an exchange, or by the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS), including information made available through an Internet portal or an exchange; and
• separate disclosure and identification, in the case of a health plan that includes coverage of abortion services for which public funding is prohibited, and where the premium is disclosed, of the separate payment collected by the plan issuer equal to the actuarial value of the such coverage.

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Related Legislation

Companion bill to H.R. 7 (2017).

Identical to H.R. 7/S. 582, which failed to pass during the 2015/2016 legislative session.

Similar to H.R. 7, H.R. 3932, and S. 946, all of which failed to pass during the 2013-2014 legislative session.

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