California lawmakers vote to make abortions cheaper

SACRAMENTO, Calif. (AP) — California lawmakers on Thursday voted to make abortions much cheaper for people on private health insurance plans, bringing California closer to becoming the fourth state in the country to ban insurance fees for the procedure.

Thursday's vote is part of lawmakers' strategy to make reproductive care more accessible in preparation for a potential U.S. Supreme Court decision this summer that could overturn Roe v. Wade, the landmark 1973 case that banned states from outlawing abortions.

California already requires private health insurance plans to cover abortion services. But insurers are allowed to charge people things like co-pays and deductibles, which adds an average of $543 to the cost of a medication abortion and $887 to the cost of a procedural abortion, according to an analysis by the California Health Benefits Review Program.

The Assembly approved a bill that would eliminate out-of-pocket costs for abortions on private health plans. While the bill would reduce the cost of abortions, it would also slightly increase monthly premiums for patients and their employers. But the savings from eliminating out-of-pocket costs would be greater than the increase in monthly premiums.

Three other states ban these fees: Illinois, Oregon and New York, according to a legislative analysis of the proposal. The bill now heads for a procedural vote in the state Senate before heading to Gov. Gavin Newsom's desk for his review.

“Protecting access to abortion is important now, more than ever, as our fundamental right to reproductive care is under attack in state houses across the country and in the chambers of our U.S. Supreme Court,” said Assemblymember Akilah Weber, who is also an OB-GYN.

Jonathan Keller, president of the California Family Council, which...