States Rights Enacted with Manager’s Amendment

A "compromise" has been reached within the health care debate, and once more women's reproductive health has been given the short end of the stick.

A "compromise" has been reached within the health care debate, and once more women’s reproductive health has been given the short end of the stick.

The newly coined "Manager’s Amendment" has inserted the idea of states rights into abortion access for all women, allowing individual states to opt out of any coverage seen to go "beyond Hyde."
Wonk Room has a good write up on the results for women:

The new managers amendment
to the merged Senate bill incorporates Sen. Bob Casey’s (D-PA) language
strengthening the segregation of private and public funds and
increasing federal support for adoptions, with a new provision that
would allow states “to prohibit abortion coverage in qualified health
plans offered through an Exchange in such State if such State enacts a
law to provide for such prohibition” (page 38 of the amendment).

 

In other words, states can opt-out of abortion coverage that goes
beyond the Hyde amendment. A state may also repeal the prohibition and
allow plans in the exchange to offer abortion coverage, so long as
those procedures are financed with private premiums.

In states that don’t prohibit abortion coverage within the exchange,
federal dollars can only be used to pay for abortions when the
pregnancy threatens the life of the mother or results from rape or
incest; private premiums must be used to pay for any other type of
abortion, including those for health reasons. Each exchange will also
have to offer at least one plan that does not offer abortion.

The managers amendment also gives state Commissions of Insurance the
ability to audit insurers to ensure compliance with the segregation of
funds in states where abortion is available, increases the Adoption Tax
Credit and federal support for adoption.