Sen. Bill Cassidy, R-La., pushed his fellow Senate Republicans to keep maternity benefits in the healthcare proposal because men are involved in the maternity process, too.
"You want cheaper plans, absolutely. Unless you have a common risk pool, you end up with policies that don't cover maternity. As best I can tell, women don't get pregnant without sperm," Cassidy said Wednesday, according to according to The Washington Post.
"So, do you want a coverage that doesn't include maternity that obviously would be principally appealing to young men, when it doesn't include maternity?" Cassidy said, according to The Hill.
The senator's comment was in response to a call from Sen. Ted Cruz, R-Texas. for fewer restrictions on kinds of plans that could be offered. He said insurers should be allowed to have a bare-minimum plan that falls below minimum requirements, but would be required to also have options that are fully loaded with coverage.
"That would have the effect of significantly lowering premiums and allowing more people to afford to buy insurance plans," Cruz said, according to The Post.
Some critics have slammed the Affordable Care Act's requirement for all plans, not just those for women, to cover "essential benefits" such as pregnancy care and childbirth, according to McClatchy.
Cassidy also said Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell could answer questions on whether the plans for the healthcare legislation were moving ahead. Cassidy called it an "existential question… it's the leader's staff that's drafting this," The Post reports.
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