Healthcare insurance complicated by abortion restriction
Healthcare providers in the US are now facing a wide range of potential legal issues in the wake of the decision by the US Supreme Court to strike down Roe versus Wade.
Hala Helm, strategic healthcare risk advisor at Marsh, Kimberly Bailey, chief risk officer at Intermountain Health and Paula Sullivan, managing director at Marsh, looked at how the decision returned the right to legalize or ban abortion to the individual States.
As they pointed out the decision opened the door to uncertainty and legal risk for providers in all states. The panel said out that the ruling triggered laws in many states that impact maternal safety, creating uncertainty and legal risk for healthcare providers in all states. Some States have highly restrictive laws about abortion, others have more liberal attitude and protect the right to abortion.
Healthcare providers now face a state-by-state patchwork of new and evolving laws regarding abortion.
As a result of this they have now been putting into place internal policies that can cope with changes. Some are struggling with the uncertainty has been introduced into the process.
The Supreme Court ruling means that in the US the legal standard and medical standard of care are not aligned. Legal challenges and state referenda on abortion have created a state of constant change, with multiple court cases pending.
Physicians facing wide range of potential legal actions, with liability issues are now far more complex than before.
Hospitals placed in a position where they have to review maternal risk and see if a pregnant patient is facing a medical emergency that might risk their life or impact their material well-being. Legal risks now tied to treatment.
The panel said that a wide range of risk considerations now needed to be examined for healthcare providers across the US, and that risk management needs to be updated depending on changes in various states. Documentation was highlighted as something that needed to be constantly updated to make sure that all details are recorded, especially when an abortion is sought as a result of rape or incest, or if the life of the mother is at risk due to complications.
The panel also stressed that policy language needs to be looked at, to make sure that it reflected recent events and provided the correct coverage.
Coverage might be structured in such a way that captives might be used to provide coverage to protect from legal issues that might result from an abortion being provided and the doctor subsequently being prosecuted.
