The order, according to administration officials, clears the way for Medicaid to cover abortion-related costs for people who have traveled from states where abortion is prohibited to states where it is not. But Biden and other officials provided few details on how the change would work — or a timeline for its implementation. “Today, I am signing the second executive order responding to the health care crisis that has unfolded since the Supreme Court overturned Roe [v. Wade] and that women face across America,” she said at a White House event. It remained unclear how this change in Medicaid coverage would avoid legal run-ins with the Hyde Amendment, a federal law that prohibits federal dollars from being spent on abortion except in cases of rape, incest and to save the life of the pregnant woman. Already, people covered by Medicaid have extremely limited abortion coverage in 34 states and the District of Columbia, and just 16 states use their own funds to help cover abortions under Medicaid. White House press secretary Karin Jean-Pierre told reporters Wednesday that the order “will not violate the Hyde Amendment,” but did not elaborate. Biden’s order directs the Secretary of Health and Human Services (HHS) to pursue those changes, and Jean-Pierre deferred specific questions about how the change would work at that agency. HHS officials did not provide additional details when asked by ABC News, and HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra did not mention the potential changes to Medicaid coverage when he spoke after Biden at Wednesday’s event, which was the first meeting of an interagency task force. launched by Biden in the wake of the Supreme Court’s reversal of Roe in June. The new directive allows Becerra to “invite states to apply for Medicaid waivers so that states where abortion is legal can provide services to people traveling from a state where abortion may be illegal to seek services in their state,” a senior administration official told reporters. Technically, these states would apply through what is known as a Medicaid 1115 waiver. The official noted that when the White House considered declaring a public health emergency over abortion and what it would allow the federal government to do, that change to Medicaid — a program to help pay for medical expenses for low-income patients — was one of the options. But the White House realized that the president could also do this via executive order. President Joe Biden speaks virtually during the first meeting of the Interagency Task Force on Access to Reproductive Health Care on the White House complex in Washington, DC, August 3, 2022. Susan Walsh/AP However, the timeline for these changes remains unclear. ABC News Chief White House Correspondent Cecilia Vega pressed Jean-Pierre on Wednesday for more details on how the executive order would apply to women who want to seek abortion care soon. “Are we talking about days, are we talking about weeks, are we talking about six months?” Vega asked. Jean-Pierre said management did not “have the details to share today, but [HHS] We’ll have more on what a waiver could look like and the timing soon.” Biden’s order also directs HHS to ensure that “health care providers comply with federal anti-discrimination laws so that women receive necessary medical care without delay,” according to the White House. This could include “providing technical assistance to health care providers who may be confused or uncertain about their obligations following the Supreme Court decision [on Roe]”, or providing other information and guidance to providers regarding the obligations and consequences of non-compliance with non-discrimination legislation. The order further directs the HHS secretary to improve research and data collection on maternal health outcomes, according to the White House. Speaking broadly about the state of reproductive rights, Biden on Wednesday reflected on the past few weeks, calling it a “critical time where women’s health and lives are at risk amid the chaos and uncertainty unleashed by this decision.” His executive order comes just one day after abortion rights activists secured a major victory in Kansas, where voters on Tuesday overwhelmingly rejected removing the right to abortion from the state constitution. Biden said the US Supreme Court “practically dared women in this country to go to the polls and restore the right to choose that the Court just broke after 50 years.” “Kansas voters sent a strong message that this fall the American people will vote to preserve and protect the right and refuse to let politicians take it away,” Biden said.
