Federal Health Care Insurance Plan Not Covering Abortions Accepts New Clients

Peoria, IL (LifeNews.com) -- A new pro-life health care insurance plan allowed by the Bush administration for federal employees that doesn't pay for abortions is now accepting new clients. Enrollment opened Monday for a group of Illinois employees who can opt into the new plan as it begins a trialrun. Announced in September, the new plan is run by a Catholic insurer, OSF Health, and will not pay for abortions, contraception, artificial insemination or sterilizations. It is part of a trial program sponsored by the $1 billion initiative to encourage faith-based groups to participate in social welfare programs. Pro-life groups support the idea, saying it gives pro-life federal workers an alternative. "I see it as allowing the individual government employee to exercise their moral judgment and to follow their moral conscience in terms of how they want their benefit dollars spent,'' Philip Karst, executive director of the Illinois Catholic Health Association, told the Chicago Tribune. OSF Health, based in Peoria, will offer health plans to 4,000 eligible workers in 27 counties in central and northern Illinois. The number of people qualified to participate in the plan will expand after this trial run.Read the complete story.