Recent data from the Alaska Department of Health and Social Services demonstrates that some of these pro-life concerns were warranted. In 2015, Alaska expanded Medicaid coverage under the ACA, and pro-life analysts predicted that this would increase publicly funded abortions in the state. Medicaid expansion was predicted to place anywhere from 10,000 to 15,000 Alaskan women of childbearing age onto a state Medicaid program, which covers abortion. Additionally, Medicaid expansion would likely encourage some women whose insurance plans did not cover abortion to transfer to a Medicaid plan that did.
One year later, new data indicate that those concerns were well-founded. Alaska’s annual abortion report for 2016 shows a sharp increase in both the number and percentage of abortions funded by Medicaid. Total numbers of Medicaid-funded abortions rose from 438 abortions in 2015 to 556 in 2016 — a 27 percent increase. In 2015, Medicaid paid for 33 percent of abortions carried out in the state. By the end of 2016, more than 44 percent of all abortions in Alaska were covered by Medicaid and thus paid for by taxpayers. Public funds covered over 100 more abortions in 2016 than in 2015, even though the overall incidence of abortion slightly decreased over the same period.
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One year later, new data indicate that those concerns were well-founded. Alaska’s annual abortion report for 2016 shows a sharp increase in both the number and percentage of abortions funded by Medicaid. Total numbers of Medicaid-funded abortions rose from 438 abortions in 2015 to 556 in 2016 — a 27 percent increase. In 2015, Medicaid paid for 33 percent of abortions carried out in the state. By the end of 2016, more than 44 percent of all abortions in Alaska were covered by Medicaid and thus paid for by taxpayers. Public funds covered over 100 more abortions in 2016 than in 2015, even though the overall incidence of abortion slightly decreased over the same period.
(continue reading)
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