Politico: RNC’s health insurance plan covers abortion
posted at 8:39 pm on November 12, 2009 by Allahpundit
I wonder how this story happened. Did a couple of lefty insurance agents at Cigna leak it to Politico unbidden or did Politico go calling around at Cigna until it found a pair of lefty insurance agents willing to leak?
Or are the sources actually pro-life agents irritated at the RNC’s stance here?
Federal Election Commission Records show the RNC purchases its insurance from Cigna. Two sales agents for the company said that the RNC’s policy covers elective abortion.
Informed of the coverage, RNC spokeswoman Gail Gitcho told POLITICO that the policy pre-dates the tenure of current RNC Chairman Michael Steele.
“The current policy has been in effect since 1991, and we are taking steps to address the issue,” Gitcho said…
According to several Cigna employees, the insurer offers its customers the opportunity to opt out of abortion coverage – and the RNC did not choose to opt out.
The NRCC’s policy doesn’t cover abortion, which somewhat mitigates the embarrassment. Conservative Twitterers are upset, but given how long the policy’s been on the books at the RNC, I wonder if Steele and the rest of the current leadership even knew that abortion was covered. It’s a needless political headache, especially in a year when health-care reform is on the table; the only way it makes sense is if there are a whole lot of elective abortions happening at RNC HQ, which would be … a much bigger political headache. So assuming it’s a matter of bureaucratic inertia, which former chairman deserves the blame for getting the ball rolling? Presumably the guy who was there in 1991 — a.k.a. Lee Atwater(!). Exit question: Why didn’t he opt out of the abortion provision?
Blowback
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Thought I would past this recent statement from M. Steele for the utter clueless idiots that didn’t think this was such a big deal. I guess Steele thinks it a big deal.
Mr. Arrogant on November 13, 2009 at 12:28 AM
If the coverage is there or not matters less than if it has been used or not. And even so, having the coverage there or not probably wouldn’t make a difference anyway. I mean, just because someone’s health coverage includes abortion doesn’t mean that someone is going to run right out and get one just because they can. And I suspect that if someone decided that having one was best for their situation, they would probably get one regardless of their health insurance coverage.
Tempest in a teapot. It is an attempt to create an issue out of whole cloth.
crosspatch on November 13, 2009 at 12:45 AM
If Steele were an actual conservative and even modestly competent, this issue would not have happened.
The guy is a complete incompetent. He’s just a little better at his job than Howard Dean.
dogsoldier on November 13, 2009 at 6:39 AM
Wouldn’t surprise if the pre-1991 health insurance coverage at the RNC was similar. Some bureaucrat rolling over the same coverage to a cheaper policy. Shoot, I do it with my own insurance, renewing without reviewing.
exdeadhead on November 13, 2009 at 7:37 AM
The fact that RNC offers abortion benefits is funny. I can’t believe I had to explain that one.
AnninCA on November 13, 2009 at 8:47 AM
It’s time to get focused on these kinds of socialist issues slipping in under the radar. In DC the Catholic Church is finally hitting back because enough is enough. The democrat city government is getting ready to pass gay marriage in this liberal cesspool of a city and as a result, because the Catholic Church does a lot of charity work with the DC poor and sick it would be forced to recognize and accept gay marriage. The bishops are saying No way! and will sever its ties with the city if they have to even if it means cutting its charities. Of course, now the bishops and the Catholic Church are the villains. Liberal issues sneak into the mainstream and like cancer spread and spread becoming accepted as the “norm”. Conservatives need to stick together and work to expose this just as with the abortion issue.
mozalf on November 13, 2009 at 8:51 AM
This is great, just have the policy re-written, remove the language and then show how easy it is to change a policy to reflect your views.
Then challenge the dems to do the same with their policies.
Making a mistake like this isn’t the problem…it is not fixing it after the mistake is known is the problem.
But of course the liberals will have a ball with this…the advantage of having no standards, you just point out others weaknesses, but since liberals have no strengths, they have nothing to live up to.
Annin is a good example, already crowing about it…
right2bright on November 13, 2009 at 9:37 AM
It’s not relevant on a big picture.
However, it does point out some actual problems within the GOP. It’s not very professional. There are so often this type of stories that emerge from the RNC or from GOP campaigns.
It’s not sharp.
McConnell’s campaign is probably a good blueprint for how to proceed.
AnninCA on November 13, 2009 at 10:26 AM
I don’t want a Health Care policy, period. It means nothing to me whether it wears a GOP label or the donkey. Elephants have long memories and this just proves why this needs not to happen in any shape, form, or fashion. More of those donor messages like the ones on Michelle’s blog will be forthcoming if they keep going down this road.
Sultry Beauty on November 13, 2009 at 2:05 PM
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