HHS Hits California, Vermont Medical System Over Abortion Policies
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced it will withhold at least $200 million in federal Medicaid funds from California in the first quarter of 2021 because the state is illegally forcing insurance companies and employers, including a Roman Catholic order of religious sisters, to cover abortion “without exclusion or limitation.”
The move comes as the HHS Office of Civil Rights (OCR) announced on Dec. 16 a series of enforcement actions aimed at organizations it says are violating conscience-protection laws related to abortion. OCR, through its Conscience and Religious Freedom Division, is responsible for enforcing federal conscience statutes.
Trump administration withholding $200M in funding from California over state s abortion practices Print this article
The Trump administration announced Wednesday that it is blocking $200 million in federal funds to California over the state’s abortion practices.
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statement released by the Department of Health and Human Services stated that the funds would be withheld from California “due to the state illegally mandating that all health care plans subject to regulation by the California Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC) cover abortion without exclusion or limitation.”
The administration said California is violating the Weldon Amendment, an anti-discrimination law meant to shield insurers from punishment if they don’t cover abortions.
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We feature a number of news bits out of Sacramento this week, as well as from our recent SoCal conference. But, perhaps the biggest news about California health care this week – at least outside of California – was the 60 Minutes story featuring the AG lawsuit against Sutter “for business practices that drove up health care prices for Californians.”
For California health policy geeks, this story might be old news. For folks in DC, this was something of an introduction to the new HHS Secretary-Designate Xavier Becerra. The AHA prioritized a response to this and it came up in conversations I’ve had with health care leaders in Florida, Virginia and Texas, just in the last few days.
The California Department of Managed Health Care (DMHC) issued guidance reminding health plans that all qualified, approved COVID-19 vaccines must be provided with no cost-sharing for health plan enrollees, regardless of whether the enrollee receives the vaccine from an in-network or out-of-network provider.
“As we begin to enter this new phase of the pandemic with vaccines becoming available, the DMHC is reminding health plans they must cover the cost of COVID-19 vaccines,” said DMHC Director Mary Watanabe. “It is critical that all Californians have access to a safe COVID-19 vaccine to help protect their health. Financial challenges should not and will not get in the way of getting protection from COVID-19.”