By Wall Street Journal Reporter Stephanie Armour, Sept. 16, 2014 11:44 a.m. ET

Some insurance plans available through the Affordable Care Act are breaking rules aimed at ensuring federal funds aren't use to cover most abortions, according to a federal report.

The Affordable Care Act bars the use of federal funds made available to consumers through subsidies and tax credits for certain abortions. The restriction doesn't apply to pregnancies that are the result of rape, incest or where the life of the pregnant women is in danger without an abortion.

Health plans on exchanges may cover the non-exempted abortions as long as they meet certain requirements. In essence, the plans must set aside funding for these abortions so that it doesn't come from federal subsidies. Issuers must separately break out a charge that beneficiaries pay for coverage of abortion procedures.

A review of 18 insurers found that 15 of them didn't itemize the premium amount associated with the abortion services and didn't send a separate bill for that premium amount, according to a report Monday by the nonpartisan Government Accountability Office.

The findings spurred criticism from Republican congressional leaders who requested the report in December. Passage of the health law in 2010 hinged on the deal that split off abortion coverage premiums so federal subsidies wouldn't offset them.

"Today's GAO report confirms that under the president's health-care law, abortions are being paid for with taxpayer funds by more than 1,000 exchange plans across the country," said House Speaker John Boehner (R., Ohio), in a news release. "This information has been hidden from the American public for years by the Obama administration, which repeatedly denied congressional requests for its public release."

The White House and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services didn't immediately respond to a request seeking comment.

In comments in the GAO report, the Department of Health and Human Services said it strives to make sure states and insurers follow the rules governing health coverage. States and insurance commissioners are primarily responsible for implementing the law, it said. Based on the GAO's findings, CMS acknowledged that more clarification may be needed.

America's Health Insurance Plans, which represents almost 1,300 health insurers, didn't respond immediately to a request seeking comment.

In a review of 18 issuers offering health plans on exchanges that cover abortion procedures, all but three indicated that the benefit isn't subject to any restrictions, limits or exclusions, according to the report.

Nationally, 1,036 health plans in 28 states cover non-exempted abortion services, while 1,062 plans cover them under the specific circumstances of rape, incest, or to save the life of the pregnant woman, according to the report. Under the law, plans that cover abortion services must estimate the cost of the service (no less than $1 per enrollee a month) and segregate it from any other premium amounts collected by the plan.

http://online.wsj.com/articles/watchdog-finds-insurers-not-following-health-laws-abortion-rule-1410882248

Stephanie Armour stephanie.armour@wsj.com