The 'sucks to be you' state.
Nobody could ever have foreseen that Michigan's so-called "rape insurance" bill, mandating that abortions be covered by insurance plans only through specific rider, would end up in
no such "riders" actually existing.
“Really?” said [boil on humanity] Rep. Tom McMillin, a Republican backer of the law. McMillin said that wasn’t the outcome he intended[, because he is unfathomably stupid]. “But if there was a market there, I’m sure they’d offer it.”
Not so. In fact, the state “opt-out” rider law clashes with provisions of the Affordable Care Act, which outlaws both separate riders and any government subsidy of abortion. Under federal law, insurers cannot offer a rider to a standard, inclusive policy. And the new state law bars insurers from including elective abortion coverage in any policy, on or off the exchange.
Industry experts say the federal and state laws work against each other. The result? The promise of optional coverage is largely a mirage for those not employed by large companies.
Go. Effing. Figure. If you're on a group insurance plan, you can buy a rider because federal law allows riders for group plans, but if you are any other woman in Michigan you are out of luck. They don't exist. There is no "rape insurance" available to you.
As a long aside, now couple that with Michigan Rep. Terri Land, one of the seemingly infinite number of Republican far-righties vying for a more prominent position in the Senate. Rep. Terri Land wants you to know in her advertisements that there is no Republican War on Woman in Michigan because she iz a woman, so case closed. Where does she stand on the whole "that thing our party demanded doesn't actually exist in real life" bit? We don't know, because she ain't talking. We only know that:
Land is vehemently anti-choice. She has stated publicly that she believes abortion should be legal only to save the life of the mother, with no mention of rape, incest, or maternal or fetal health.
So that Michigan women cannot actually get "rape insurance" that would cover an abortion if they are raped does not seem to be something Land will be shedding tears over. Or the rest of the party, for that matter. Call it an
unforeseen outcome, please, so that the party can move on to other realms of explaining how big government is bad and how government involvement with private health matters is bad and the Republican Party would never ever do anything to hurt women, and when they do it's just one of those "oops" things that we're sure would be solved "if there was a market there."
These people.