W. Va. Bill Would Restrict Insurance Coverage of Abortion
February 18, 2011 — The West Virginia House Banking and Insurance Committee endorsed a bill on Wednesday that would ban insurance companies in the state from covering abortions, except in cases of rape, incest or danger to the woman's life, the AP/Charleston Daily Mail reports.
The legislation would affect group and individual policies, as well as health plans sold through the state health insurance exchange. The bill would require women to buy supplemental insurance policies and pay extra premiums for abortion coverage. The measure was championed by West Virginians for Life and will now move to the House Finance Committee for review (Messina, AP/Charleston Daily Mail, 2/16).
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Repro Health Watch — an exciting new edition of the Women’s Health Policy Report — compiles and distributes media coverage of proposed and enacted state laws and ballot initiatives affecting women's access to comprehensive reproductive health care, as well as litigation in response to those provisions.
