“Can do!” has pretty much been the mantra of the Obama administration’s attitude toward finding ways to offer health insurance to Americans. But when it comes to pregnant moms, suddenly the word was: “No can do!”

That's a simplification of the latest policy pronouncement from the Department of Health and Human Services.

In the string of special efforts to get folks to sign up for affordable coverage, the administration invented the extended enrollment period for uninsured who just might tumble to the need for coverage when they did their taxes.

Then pregnant women were brought into the discussion.

U.S. Sen. Patty Murphy (D-Wash.) went to bat for pregnant moms without health insurance by recommending an extended enrollment period just for them. This initiative attracted the support of many Democrats, and ignited a campaign to convince HHS Secretary Sylvia Burwell to go ahead and roll out a special extension for pregnant women.

But Burwell, in a response to a letter Murphy, with 36 other signatures, sent in March, this week said HHS does not have “the legal authority to establish pregnancy as an exceptional circumstance” to create a special enrollment period. Burwell cited legal precedent and guidance from large insurers as reasons.

Burwell said pregnant women could enroll in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program.

“Women with low and moderate incomes can enroll in these programs at any time if they qualify,” Burwell wrote. “And, like all other qualified individuals, pregnant women can enroll in the Marketplace during the annual open enrollment period.”

Many were disappointed in the response.

“It is absolutely critical that all pregnant women have access to health care coverage, so I am disappointed by today’s announcement,” Murray said in a statement. “I will continue looking for ways to get this done so that more women can get covered and get the affordable, high quality care they need for themselves and their young children.”

Jen Mishory, executive director at Young Invincibles, a millennial advocacy group, also said she was disappointed in the news.

"We’re gravely disappointed the Administration is leaving pregnant women vulnerable during a life-changing event and won’t allow an opportunity to gain access to much-needed coverage outside of open enrollment,” she said in a statement. “The Administration has the authority to create special enrollment periods in cases like these, but is instead ignoring the calls to protect women's health of nearly 100 members of Congress, over 100,000 consumers, and dozens of organizations to do so. The Administration has named many extraordinary circumstances qualifying life events for special enrollment, and there’s no reason — legal or otherwise — they cannot do so here.”

Instant Insights /

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