Grunt, I think you might possibly owe me a case of Sam Adams.  We’ll wait to see how far he backs down, or if he’s just being slick and tricky.

Faced with mounting pressure from religious groups, the president is set to make an ‘accommodation’ on a contraception requirementWASHINGTON — Faced with increasing pressure from religious groups and Catholic lawmakers in both parties over the new federal requirement for birth control coverage, the Obama administration is planning to announce an “accommodation” on Friday aimed at allaying some of the concerns of faith-driven employers.

ABC News reported Friday morning that the announcement was “likely” to be made Friday. A source familiar with the deliberations told The Huffington Post the announcement was imminent.

Senior White House adviser Valerie Jarrett told members of the Congressional Pro-Choice Caucus in a phone call on Friday morning that the new compromise is the insurer — rather than the employer — would be required to provide the contraceptive coverage free of charge for women employed by the entities in question, a congressional staffer told HuffPost.

One idea that has been mentioned is the “Hawaii model,” by which an employer who morally objects to contraception could opt out and inform its female employees where they can get that coverage outside of the employee health plan. In Hawaii, women who decide to directly pay the insurer out of pocket for contraception coverage are not allowed to be charged more than they would pay for their company plan.  (read more)

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