"medically necessary"

An Anchorage Superior Court judge has temporarily suspended a regulation that would have restricted women who qualify for Medicaid funded abortions.

The Department of Health and Social Services wants doctors to fill out a sheet checking off why an abortion should be reimbursed. Commissioner Bill Streur says the point is to make doctors reflect on whether an abortion is medically necessary or elective.

Right now, the state of Alaska is obligated to provide Medicaid funding for all “medically necessary” abortions. Yesterday the Senate passed a bill that would narrow that definition.