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Protesters Disrupt Democrats' Best-Laid Plans For Health Reform 'Conversations'

Over the weekend, a series of protests at Democratic events meant to promote health reform "organized by loose-knit coalition of conservative voters and advocacy groups, were a raucous start to what is expected to be weeks of political and ideological clashes over the health care overhaul," the New York Times reports. "Republicans said that the protests were just the beginning of spontaneous opposition to the health care proposals and that they would only gain momentum as Americans learn more about the legislation." But Democrats said they were only an effort to block discourse, and were anything but a grass-roots campaign. "This is a very coordinated effort," said one Democratic Congressman who was confronted by protestors at a grocery store (Herszenhorn and Stolberg, 8/3).
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Coverage Of Abortion Services In Federal Health Plan Remains Controversial

Advocates on both sides of the abortion-rights debate are "preparing for a renewed battle" over insurance coverage of abortion services in health care reform efforts, the AP/Atlanta Journal-Constitution reports. Abortion-rights opponents say that current restrictions on federal funding for abortion services should carry over to any insurance sold under new health insurance exchanges proposed under reform legislation. However, abortion-rights supporters say that carrying over the restrictions would deny abortion coverage to millions of women who currently have it through employer-sponsored coverage and are likely to join the exchanges.A variation in how the questions were asked yielded different results but significant proportions of private plans were found to cover abortion services. A Guttmacher Institute study found that 87% of typical employer-sponsored health plans covered abortion services in 2002, and a 2003 Kaiser Family Foundation study found that 46% of workers covered by employer-sponsored plans had coverage for abortion services.A Congressionally imposed provision of law known as the Hyde Amendment currently prevents the use of federal Medicaid funds for abortion services except in cases of rape, incest or life endangerment. States that choose to cover abortion services for low-income women through Medicaid must use their own funding to do so. Other Congressionally imposed restrictions prohibit abortion coverage for federal employees, women in the military and other women who rely on the federal government for their health care coverage. An overhaul of the health care system would "create a stream of federal funding not covered by the restrictions," including federal subsidies to offset the cost of health insurance for low- and middle-income people purchasing public or private health insurance though an exchange, the AP/Journal-Constitution reports.Congressional Proposals The plan passed by the Senate Health, Education, Labor and Pensions Committee is "still largely silent" on the issue of coverage for abortion services, the AP/Journal-Constitution reports. Both the House and Senate bills leave the decision on whether the public plan would include abortion coverage to the HHS secretary.In the House Energy and Commerce Committee, members approved an amendment that would allow the public plan to cover abortion services through the use of beneficiary premiums but not federal funds. In addition, the amendment says that private plans in the insurance exchanges could choose whether to cover abortion services, but no federal subsidies could be used to pay for the procedure. The amendment -- proposed by Rep. Lois Capps (D-Calif.), who supports abortion rights -- also would allow plans that do not cover abortions under any circumstances to be offered through insurance exchanges. Capps said that her amendment aims to appease both sides of the abortion-rights debate, adding, "Our country allows for both sides, and our health plan should reflect that as well."Comments Abortion-rights opponents say that they cannot accept a public insurance plan that would cover abortion services and that private plans in insurance exchanges should offer coverage for abortion services as a separate option, the AP/Journal-Constitution reports. Richard Doerflinger, associate director of antiabortion activities for the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops, said the group "want[s] to see people who have no health insurance get it," but coverage for abortion is "a sticking point." He said that there can be a "result where nobody has to pay for other people"s abortions," adding, "We don"t want health care reform to be the vehicle for mandating abortion."However, abortion-rights supporters argue that prohibiting coverage for abortion services would deny health care to women who have abortion services coverage through their private plans. Heidi Hartmann, president of the Institute for Women"s Policy Research, said that applying current restrictions for low-income women and federal employees to a program meant for the middle cla