HHS issues high-risk pool regs, limits abortion coverage

The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services made it official today: The new high-risk pools for people with pre-existing conditions can only offer abortion coverage for cases of rape, incest and life endangerment. The Department issued an interim final regulation about the high-risk pools that includes Hyde amendment language in its discussion of abortion coverage.
 
The regulation is now on display at the Federal Register and available here. See page 25 for the abortion language.
A White House blog post on the Pre-Existing Condition Plan regulation, including comments on the abortion coverage issue, can be found here.
 
The issuance of this regulation triggers a 60-day public comment period. We all need to weigh in with comments vigorously protesting this unnecessary and unjust restriction on the ability of women with pre-existing conditions to obtain abortion coverage. Stay tuned for guidance from RWV on how best to do this!