Delaware is on the verge of becoming the 18th state to direct Medicaid to cover abortion services and the 5th state to require state-regulated private health plans to do the same. Legislation introduced by House Majority Leader Melissa Minor Brown (D-New Castle) aims to extend these provisions to all health benefit plans issued under Medicaid, private insurance, and state employee insurance plans.
In April, Minor Brown’s initial proposal, which required Medicaid to cover abortion services, advanced through the House Appropriations Committee. She has since introduced a revised bill that mandates coverage for abortion services across all aforementioned health plans. This revised legislation stipulates that patients seeking pregnancy termination will not be subject to deductibles, copayments, or coinsurance up to a coverage maximum of $750.
The bill allows for an exemption for religious employers if the coverage requirement conflicts with their bona fide religious beliefs and practices. However, this exemption does not apply to abortions deemed necessary to preserve the life or health of the individual.
House Minority Whip Lyndon Yearick (R-Magnolia) and other Republican colleagues expressed concerns over the bill. Yearick criticized the bill for mandating elective services without similar mandates for other health services. “The requirement to mandate that every entity must provide this elective service and no questions asked unless they’re a faith-based institution — I’m disappointed in that. I’m sure there’s very few elective services that we require other companies through their healthcare to provide,” he said.
State Rep. Charles Postles (R-Milford) echoed this sentiment, adding, “I think that it is unfair to force taxpayers who are opposed to this procedure to have to pay for that procedure.”
Republicans also argued that the bill would exacerbate the state’s healthcare spending, citing an annual fiscal impact of approximately $500,000.
In response, Minor Brown highlighted the long-term financial benefits of the bill. She argued that denying abortion services often leads to significant financial hardship for women, resulting in increased debt and reliance on state resources. “When you deny a person access to essential healthcare, look at the impact after that,” she said. “The woman who’s utilizing Medicaid, and now you’re not allowing her that right to choose because you don’t want to pay for it. But you’d rather her stay on Medicaid, continue utilizing state resources, and maybe even with the extra person or two, which — to me — costs more. So just make it make sense.”
State Rep. Valerie Jones Giltner (R-Georgetown) voiced concerns about the state’s financial capacity to eliminate cost-sharing mechanisms for this coverage. “We make tough decisions as legislators as far as making sure that Medicaid is available to many throughout the state. And we’re not blocking access to an abortion — that’s already widely available. We’re not even blocking partial payment of it,” she said. “What we’re saying is that to say there should be no deductible, no copayment, no anything for anybody that gets an abortion, even if they have private insurance — a private payer — is not sound judgment.”
Despite opposition, Minor Brown maintained that preventative measures would ultimately reduce overall state expenses. “We don’t have the money to pay for the after effects when we don’t provide care to people and access to healthcare to people. It’s more expensive on the other end,” she asserted.
The bill passed with only two Republican representatives defecting and now proceeds to the Senate for consideration.
