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Private Insurance Coverage of Abortion

States prohibit private insurers from covering abortions except in limited circumstances.1

The new law maintains states’ ability to pass laws prohibiting or limiting private insurance coverage of abortion. Several states have passed or introduced such legislation since the passage of the Affordable Care Act in 2010, including laws to restrict coverage of abortion in the private health insurance plans purchased through the new state-based "Health Insurance Exchanges."

Does the state restrict insurers from covering abortion services?

States receive a "meets policy" if they do not restrict insurance coverage of abortion services. States receive a "weak policy" if they restrict abortion coverage in state employee plans or other state-funded or administered insurance programs.  States receive a "harmful policy" if they restrict coverage of abortion in the exchanges that will be established pursuant to federal health care reform, or if they restrict coverage of abortion in all private insurance plans in the state.

The way in which this indicator is evaluated has changed from the 2007 Report Card and therefore there is no comparison to 2007.

State Strength of Policy Change from 2007
Alabama Meets Policy N/A
Alaska Meets Policy N/A
Arizona Harmful Policy N/A
Arkansas Meets Policy N/A
California Meets Policy N/A
Colorado Weak Policy N/A
Connecticut Meets Policy N/A
Delaware Meets Policy N/A
District of Columbia Meets Policy N/A
Florida Meets Policy N/A
Georgia Meets Policy N/A
Hawaii Meets Policy N/A
Idaho Harmful Policy N/A
Illinois Weak Policy N/A
Indiana Meets Policy N/A
Iowa Meets Policy N/A
Kansas Meets Policy N/A
Kentucky Harmful Policy N/A
Louisiana Harmful Policy N/A
Maine Meets Policy N/A
Maryland Meets Policy N/A
Massachusetts Meets Policy N/A
Michigan Meets Policy N/A
Minnesota Meets Policy N/A
Mississippi Harmful Policy N/A
Missouri Harmful Policy N/A
Montana Weak Policy N/A
Nebraska Weak Policy N/A
Nevada Meets Policy N/A
New Hampshire Meets Policy N/A
New Jersey Meets Policy N/A
New Mexico Meets Policy N/A
New York Meets Policy N/A
North Carolina Meets Policy N/A
North Dakota Harmful Policy N/A
Ohio Weak Policy N/A
Oklahoma Harmful Policy N/A
Oregon Meets Policy N/A
Pennsylvania Weak Policy N/A
Rhode Island Weak Policy N/A
South Carolina Weak Policy N/A
South Dakota Meets Policy N/A
Tennessee Harmful Policy N/A
Texas Meets Policy N/A
Utah Meets Policy N/A
Vermont Meets Policy N/A
Virginia Weak Policy N/A
Washington Meets Policy N/A
West Virginia Meets Policy N/A
Wisconsin Weak Policy N/A
Wyoming Meets Policy N/A

Policy Indicator Counts
Meets Policy: 
32
Limited Policy: 
0
Weak Policy: 
10
No/Harmful Policy: 
9
Better: 
0
Same: 
0
Worse: 
0

Data Source: 1) Unpublished National Women's Law Center data, 2010 2) Guttmacher Institute, "State Policies in Brief: Restricting Insurance Coverage of Abortion," September 2010, available at http://www.guttmacher.org/statecenter/spibs/spib_RICA.pdf, accessed September 8, 2010.

Footnotes

1 The Guttmacher Institute, State Policies in Brief  "Restricting Insurance Coverage of Abortion,", September 1, 2010. available at http://www.guttmacher.org/statecenter/spibs/spib_RICA.pdf, accessed September 2, 2010.

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