In a major policy change, the Clinton administration will require states to finance Medicaid abortions in cases of rape or incest or if the woman's life is endangered.
The new rules will cover abortions retroactive to Oct. 1 and make it easier for states to obtain federal reimbursements, Medicaid Administrator Bruce C. Vladeck said Saturday.The Bush and Reagan administrations allowed states to decide on their own whether to pay for Medicaid abortions for low-income women. States were permitted to seek federal matching funds only if the life of the woman was endangered.
Restrictions on Medicaid funding for abortion were eased slightly in the Health and Human Services appropriation bill passed by Congress this year. The new policy, which grew out of a review of that law by HHS lawyers, makes it mandatory for states to pay for the procedure with federal matching funds in cases of rape, incest or if the woman's life would be endangered by continuing the pregnancy.
Medicaid coverage for most abortions still would be barred under the Hyde Amendment.
Vladeck said the new policy will be sent to the states by year's end.
In an interview, he said the Clinton administration "will be doing less harassing" of states seeking matching funds for Medicaid abortions.
"The Bush and Reagan administrations put up as many administrative hoops as they could," Vladeck said. "In order to get the federal government to pay its share, states had to go through elaborate documentation processes" and "an independent medical review of each case.