The state Directorate of Banks and Insurance proposed new regulations that would require state-supervised health insurance plans to cover abortions, according to a report the department sent to the government. Phil Murphy and legislative leaders.
The proposed abortion coverage mandate, which comes six months after the United States Supreme Court allowed states to ban the procedure, is necessary to avoid confusion among consumers who don’t know what their plan covers, aligns with the opinion of medical experts that abortion is essential for reproductive health and remove the cost barrier for residents who cannot afford to pay for an abortion otherwise, the report says.
Murphy, a Democrat, signed legislation in January empowering the Directorate of Banks and Insurance to put in place regulations making abortion coverage mandatory, but only if a study by the ministry has deemed it necessary. Marlene Caridethe Commissioner of Banking and Insurance, sent the long-awaited 11-page report to Murphy and lawmakers the day before Thanksgiving.
“State law protects the right to terminate a pregnancy without government interference,” the report said. “Therefore, abortion is part of comprehensive insurance coverage for reproductive care and should reasonably be included in the range of services (covered) by health insurance.”
New Jersey would be the eighth state to require abortion coverage in private health insurance plans.
The news was first reported by Politico New Jersey.
The new regulations would not affect all plans. New Jersey only has regulatory authority in certain health insurance markets, including state Medicaid; individual, small employer and large employer markets; and state and school employee health plans. The New Jersey Association of Health Plans says less than 20% of residents are covered by state-regulated commercial health plans.
Nearly one million women in United States have an abortion each year, according to the Guttmacher Institute, an abortion rights research group. In 2017, the latest year for which data is available, 48,110 abortions were performed in New Jerseyindicates the group.
Sen. Therese Ruiz (D-Essex) said the mandate would “help reduce financial barriers to accessing reproductive care for many people in the state.”
“The current reality of a post-Roe world will continue to challenge us to seek new ways to expand access, and ensuring insurance coverage is one way to ease the burden on individuals and providers” , Ruiz said.
Murphy’s Spokesperson and Speaker of the Assembly Craig Coughlin did not respond to requests for comment.
Mary Tasyexecutive director of New Jersey Right to Life, called it “shameful” that New Jersey wants to join the few states that mandate abortion coverage, and said she’s worried it will encourage more women to seek the procedure.
“It’s very, very sickening. It’s the women and the children who are going to suffer,” Tasy said.
The report said requiring carriers to cover abortions would likely not increase premiums “in a material way,” citing the costs saved by not paying claims for prenatal and postnatal care and childbirth. The insurance companies told the Directorate of Banks and Insurance the premium impact range was between zero and 0.1%, the report said.
Before publishing the report, the Directorate of Banks and Insurance collected public feedback, calculated financial impacts, and analyzed how access to comprehensive abortion care can affect the lives of women seeking abortions.
The report says the regulations would bring needed consistency to the insurance markets for individuals, small employers and large employers. Carriers now have the option of covering all abortions, or restricting coverage to cases of rape or incest, or protecting the life of the mother. It’s not always clear to consumers what their plan includes, the report says.
Mandating abortion coverage would also remove the barrier to access for women who cannot afford to pay for the entire procedure, the report says.
In 2020, the median patient burden for the cost of a medical abortion was $560and $575 for first-trimester surgical abortion, the report said. The cost was $895 for third trimester procedural abortion.
Report says people who want abortions and can’t get one are more likely to be raising children alone, living in households below the poverty line and struggling to pay for food, housing and transportation.
Murphy and abortion rights advocates have sought to eliminate out-of-pocket fees for abortions, but the proposed settlement would not. It would include an exemption for religious employers.
Of the seven states that now require abortion coverage in private health insurance plans, five require non-copayment coverage.
Brittany Holom-Trundysenior policy analyst at the left-leaning think tank New Jersey Policy Perspective, called the proposed regulations a “really good first step in figuring out why there is an urgent need to mandate abortion coverage,” but urged lawmakers and the Murphy administration to cover all costs for patients.
“Whether it’s covered or not, people who need it will seek the health care they need,” she said. “There are still people going through the holes, so we’re still missing a few pieces here.”
