More than 50,000 people, including dozens of U.S. lawmakers, are calling on the Obama administration to close a loophole that may be denying maternity coverage to some pregnant women. They say there’s an easy solution to the problem: Add pregnancy to the list of “qualifying life events” that allow Americans to enroll in Obamacare plans year-round.
Right now, Americans are allowed to sign up for Obamacare plans outside of the designated open enrollment windows if they experience a major life change — like graduating from college, moving to a new home, getting married, or having a baby. But getting pregnant isn’t currently on that list. So if women discover they’re pregnant outside of the regular open enrollment period, they can’t sign up for insurance on Obamacare’s marketplaces until after they’ve already given birth.
According to a recent report released by the health care advocacy group Young Invincibles, that’s a serious problem for low-income women who may be forced to skip out on maternity care without coverage. Over the past month, they’ve been lobbying the Department of Health and Human Services to tweak the policy and ensure that pregnant women are allowed to select among the marketplace plans.
Along with other progressive organizations like UltraViolet and RH Reality Check, the group launched a joint petition effort that has garnered more than 50,000 signatures in support of year-round maternity coverage. More than 30 different groups working on issues related to health care, women’s health, and reproductive justice also penned a letter urging HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell to act “swiftly” to create a special enrollment period for pregnant women.
Elected officials are getting involved, too. Members of the House and the Senate have written letters to Burwell endorsing the change, pointing out that pregnant women need to be able to access “the critical prenatal and maternity care they need.”
Rep. Bonnie Watson Coleman (D-NJ), who spearheaded the letter sent by 54 members of the House, said in a statement that the Obama administration should feel compelled to respond to the wide range of people who have expressed concern about the loophole for pregnant women.
“The number of health advocates, members of Congress, and average Americans calling for this change highlights the importance of this issue and should inspire special urgency for the Department of Health and Human Services,” Watson Coleman said. “I hope HHS will take steps to implement this change as quickly as possible.”
Burwell has said she’s open to considering adding pregnancy to the list of qualifying life events. It’s a policy change that could be fairly unpopular with insurers, however, because they’re worried about people delaying signing up for coverage until they’re faced with a costly medical event.
The health care reform law has taken several other steps to expand access to women’s health services — like mandating maternity coverage in the plans offered through the marketplaces, eliminating co-pays for birth control, and extending coverage for domestic violence screenings.