Gov. Janet Mills indications a costs at the State Home on July 19 broadening access to abortion. A brand-new law working Monday will restrict some insurance companies from charging clients deductibles and other out-of-pocket expenses for abortion care. Gregory Rec/Staff Professional photographer, file
A brand-new law working Monday will restrict some insurance companies from charging clients deductibles and other out-of-pocket expenses for abortion care.
” Clients with state-regulated medical insurance strategies can now be guaranteed access to the abortion care they require, when they require it, without unneeded monetary concerns of conference high deductibles and other cost-sharing,” stated Lisa Margulies, vice president of public affairs for the Planned Being A Parent Maine Action Fund. Planned Being a parent is an abortion supplier in Maine.
Insurance coverage prepares that are not controlled by the state– such as self-insured strategies– would be exempt from the brand-new guidelines.
The law is among a number of gone by the Maine Legislature and signed into law in 2023 by Gov. Janet Mills, partially in action to the 2022 U.S. Supreme Court choice reversing Roe v. Wade that removed the constitutional right to an abortion. Ever since, 18 states have actually authorized tight limitations or prohibited abortions, however Maine has actually broadened abortion rights.
A Maine law that entered into impact in October allows abortions later on in pregnancy when a health expert concludes it’s clinically essential. Previous Maine law disallowed abortions after fetal practicality, when a too soon born infant might live outside the womb– usually thought about to be 22 to 24 weeks.
Dana Peirce, of Yarmouth, needed to take a trip to Colorado for an abortion in 2019 after a deadly irregularity was found in her fetus when she was 32 weeks pregnant. Peirce shared her story openly, consisting of publishing an op-ed in journalism Herald, which captured Mills’ attention and motivated her to propose the law modification.
Later-term abortions are very uncommon. In 2022, there were 6 abortions in Maine at 20 weeks or later on out of 2,225 abortions done that year. About 60% were medication abortions done early in pregnancy.
Destie Hoffman Sprague, executive director of the Maine Women’s Lobby, stated the brand-new law managing insurance coverage expenses for abortion is a “effective advance in making sure that everybody who requires an abortion can pay for one. Frequently, co-pays and deductibles produce a monetary barrier to abortions.”
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