Just a week after the Idaho Legislature approved a partnership with the Obama Administration to impose ObamaCare upon the people of Idaho, Secretary of HHS Sebelius issued a 58-page order to the states requiring them to certify Planned Parenthood as a legitimate health care provider. This status as an “essential community provider” means that private insurance companies like Blue Cross of Idaho must pay insurance claims to Planned Parenthood for non-abortion services if they are to sell “qualified health plans” on the state insurance exchange.
What does this mean for Idaho families and preborn babies at risk in the womb?
It means that the federal regime under Sebelius and Obama has created an entirely new revenue stream for Planned Parenthood operations all across the nation. While these dollars will not go directly to pay for abortions – they greatly subsidize Murder, Inc. by helping to cover operating and staff costs. This indirectly finances Planned Parenthood’s organization and its reach into our communities.
It also means that Planned Parenthood will be treated by the feds as a legitimate “health care provider” on a par with St. Alphonsus or Eastern Idaho’s Regional Medical Center. Semi-private companies like Blue Cross will be forced into a partnership with Planned Parenthood.
The order from Sebelius is dated April 5th, but has only recently come to light through the work of the Family Research Council and Tony Perkins. In a recent email to pro-Life activists across the nation, Perkins wrote,
“Unfortunately for Americans, Sebelius – not Congress – decides what belongs in state insurance exchanges. And if her past relationships are any indication, taxpayers are in for even more surprises when ObamaCare goes into effect January 1.”
And, we must emphasize, the new Board of the Idaho Insurance Exchange is equally powerless in this matter. Yet they are nevertheless morally compromised because they will serve as the intermediaries enforcing Sebelius’ various edicts upon companies like Blue Cross and Blue Shield. This is the awful new reality created by the Idaho Legislature and Governor Otter.