Health insurance: few employers choose abortion coverage

by Peter Slevin
Washington Post Staff Writer
Sunday, March 14, 2010

CHICAGO -- In North Dakota, where insurers can cover abortions if customers pay a separate premium, the state's largest provider says it sells no abortion policies because no one has asked to buy one.

Amid a high-stakes debate over abortion that could determine the fate of President Obama's health-care initiative, North Dakota's law offers a test because it is much like the language favored by antiabortion lawmakers on Capitol Hill, notably Rep. Bart Stupak (D-Mich.).

"There's not a lot to tell. We have no member who elected to have abortion riders," said Denise Kolpack, vice president of Blue Cross Blue Shield of North Dakota, which covers about 80 percent of the North Dakota market. "We would be legally bound to provide an offering, but we have no groups that have requested it." the rest