* Sun-Times…

Democratic Gov. J.B. Pritzker on Tuesday signed an executive order aimed at ensuring the state is properly enforcing a politically divisive law that allows for the taxpayer funding of abortions — saying he was “concerned” former Gov. Bruce Rauner’s administration wasn’t “making sure that it was enforced for state government employees.” […]

The American Civil Liberties Union of Illinois said that within the past month, some state employees had received notices that abortion is now covered under their plan. The group says Rauner’s administration “didn’t really prioritize fully implementing and creating the mechanics for people to be able to easily access abortion through Medicaid.”

“We were concerned and are concerned that the leadership that Gov. Rauner had in place wasn’t in fact making sure that it was enforced for state government employees,” Pritzker said. “And of course more broadly we want to make sure that private and public health insurance coverage included it and that it’s enforced. So we had some indications, but the most important thing is we’re going to make sure that everyone, every woman in state government has the coverage that she deserves.”

You may recall that I asked the governor’s office yesterday about complaints or compliance issues with state employee group health insurance plans. I was referred to the ACLU of Illinois.

* Ed Yohnka with the ACLU…

Here is the information about the state insurance plans’ coverage of abortion. This is based on information we received via FOIA requests in 2017 and mid-2018.

The following plans do not appear to cover abortion in most circumstances. As of the time of our FOIAs, it appears these three plans covered nearly half of all enrollees.

* Healthlink OAP. Appears to contain a life exception only. This plan does not renew until 2021.

* Aetna QCHP. Appears to contain a life exception only. This plan does not renew until 2021.

* Aetna HMO. Does not cover “elective abortion” or “abortion drugs.” This plan was renewed for FY2019. We do not have any more updated information to indicate if abortion was covered, but we believe it might not be.

The following plan just expanded its abortion coverage, but it is not complete.

* Health Alliance HMO. Before viability, it now covers abortions determined by the physician to be necessary. After viability, the abortion is covered if the life of the mother is endangered, the fetus has a condition incompatible with life outside the uterus, or the pregnancy is the result of rape or incest. Based on the notice we received, it does not contain an exception post-viability for the health of the pregnant person.

Two other plans cover election abortions, but have a lifetime limit of two.

Discuss.