Posted by
Defend America on Sunday, March 21, 2010 4:43:54 PM
EXECUTIVE ORDER
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ENSURING ENFORCEMENT AND IMPLEMENTATION OF ABORTION RESTRICTIONS IN THE PATIENT PROTECTION AND AFFORDABLE CARE ACT
By the authority vested
in me as President by the Constitution and the laws of the United
States of America, including the “Patient Protection and Affordable
Care Act” (approved March ¬¬__, 2010), I hereby order as follows:
Section 1. Policy.
Following the recent
passage of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (“the Act”),
it is necessary to establish an adequate enforcement mechanism to
ensure that Federal funds are not used for abortion services (except in
cases of rape or incest, or when the life of the woman would be
endangered), consistent with a longstanding Federal statutory
restriction that is commonly known as the Hyde Amendment. The purpose
of this Executive Order is to establish a comprehensive,
government-wide set of policies and procedures to achieve this goal and
to make certain that all relevant actors—Federal officials, state
officials (including insurance regulators) and health care
providers—are aware of their responsibilities, new and old.
The Act maintains current
Hyde Amendment restrictions governing abortion policy and extends those
restrictions to the newly-created health insurance exchanges. Under the
Act, longstanding Federal laws to protect conscience (such as the
Church Amendment, 42 U.S.C. §300a-7, and the Weldon Amendment, Pub. L.
No. 111-8, §508(d)(1) (2009)) remain intact and new protections
prohibit discrimination against health care facilities and health care
providers because of an unwillingness to provide, pay for, provide
coverage of, or refer for abortions.
Numerous executive
agencies have a role in ensuring that these restrictions are enforced,
including the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Office
of Management and Budget (OMB), and the Office of Personnel Management
(OPM).
Section 2. Strict
Compliance with Prohibitions on Abortion Funding in Health Insurance
Exchanges. The Act specifically prohibits the use of tax credits and
cost-sharing reduction payments to pay for abortion services (except in
cases of rape or incest, or when the life of the woman would be
endangered) in the health insurance exchanges that will be operational
in 2014. The Act also imposes strict payment and accounting
requirements to ensure that Federal funds are not used for abortion
services in exchange plans (except in cases of rape or incest, or when
the life of the woman would be endangered) and requires state health
insurance commissioners to ensure that exchange plan funds are
segregated by insurance companies in accordance with generally accepted
accounting principles, OMB funds management circulars, and accounting
guidance provided by the Government Accountability Office.
I hereby direct the
Director of OMB and the Secretary of HHS to develop, within 180 days of
the date of this Executive Order, a model set of segregation guidelines
for state health insurance commissioners to use when determining
whether exchange plans are complying with the Act’s segregation
requirements, established in Section 1303 of the Act, for enrollees
receiving Federal financial assistance. The guidelines shall also offer
technical information that states should follow to conduct independent
regular audits of insurance companies that participate in the health
insurance exchanges. In developing these model guidelines, the Director
of OMB and the Secretary of HHS shall consult with executive agencies
and offices that have relevant expertise in accounting principles,
including, but not limited to, the Department of the Treasury, and with
the Government Accountability Office. Upon completion of those model
guidelines, the Secretary of HHS should promptly initiate a rulemaking
to issue regulations, which will have the force of law, to interpret
the Act’s segregation requirements, and shall provide guidance to state
health insurance commissioners on how to comply with the model
guidelines.
Section 3. Community Health Center Program.
The Act establishes a new
Community Health Center (CHC) Fund within HHS, which provides
additional Federal funds for the community health center program.
Existing law prohibits these centers from using federal funds to
provide abortion services (except in cases of rape or incest, or when
the life of the woman would be endangered), as a result of both the
Hyde Amendment and longstanding regulations containing the Hyde
language. Under the Act, the Hyde language shall apply to the
authorization and appropriations of funds for Community Health Centers
under section 10503 and all other relevant provisions. I hereby direct
the Secretary of HHS to ensure that program administrators and
recipients of Federal funds are aware of and comply with the
limitations on abortion services imposed on CHCs by existing law. Such
actions should include, but are not limited to, updating Grant Policy
Statements that accompany CHC grants and issuing new interpretive rules.
Section 4. General Provisions.
(a) Nothing in this
Executive Order shall be construed to impair or otherwise affect: (i)
authority granted by law or presidential directive to an agency, or the
head thereof; or (ii) functions of the Director of the Office of
Management and Budget relating to budgetary, administrative, or
legislative proposals.
(b) This Executive Order shall be implemented consistent with applicable law and subject to the availability of appropriations.
(c) This Executive Order
is not intended to, and does not, create any right or benefit,
substantive or procedural, enforceable at law or in equity against the
United States, its departments, agencies, entities, officers, employees
or agents, or any other person.
http://whitehouse.blogs.foxnews.com/2010/03/21/obama-executive-order-on-abortion-funding/