Mayes, other AGs call for keeping abortion out of ACA subsidy debate

As Congress debates extensions for subsidies for Obamacare health plans, Arizona Attorney General Kris Mayes says abortion restrictions should not be part of the negotiation.

Costs for Affordable Care Act marketplace health plans are expected to skyrocket when enhanced premium tax credits that help most enrollees afford the plans expire at the end of this year.

In a letter to congressional leaders Wednesday, Mayes and 20 other Democratic attorneys general said some Republicans are proposing extending those tax credits only on the condition that ACA marketplace health plans prohibit coverage of abortion.

“Such a proposal should be soundly and swiftly rejected by our elected representatives as a brazen attempt to stymie extension of the tax credits by threatening access to critical healthcare in an already hostile environment,” the letter said. “This proposal amounts to yet another effort to implement a back-door federal abortion ban.”

The letter said a prohibition on coverage of abortion would undermine the structure of the ACA marketplace, which is supposed to be regulated at the state level.

It said existing laws already prohibit federal dollars from paying for abortions, and plans that cover abortion already charge separate fees for that.