With the White House under fire for its new rule requiring employers, including religious organizations, to offer health insurance that fully covers birth control coverage, ABC News has learned that later today the White House will likely announce an attempt to accommodate these religious groups.

The move, based on state models, will almost certainly not satisfy bishops and other religious leaders since it will preserve the goal of women employees having their birth control fully covered by health insurance.

Essentially, this is a political compromise to get the issue off the front page. The goal of the polciy change allows respect of religious beliefs but will not back off from the goal of full birth control coverage, which is exactly what several states already do.

Analysis

What the White House will likely announce later today is that the relationship between the religious employer and the insurance company will not need to have any component involving contraception. The insurance company will reach out on its own to the women employees. Does this improve the situation as the employee may be going against the religious organization's policy? What do you think?

As gas prices swell to more than $4/ gallon this spring and summer toward record highs according to experts, Congress may act to help commuters with mass transit benefits. The tax-favored status of an employee benefit tapped by those who use mass transit to get to and from work would be boosted under a provision in highway funding legislation approved Tuesday by a Senate panel.

The benefit, approved by the Senate Finance Committee on a 17-6 vote, would allow employees to reduce their taxable salaries by up to $240 a month for pay for mass transit expenses under a model similar to dependent care expense reimbursement or flexible savings accounts.

The current monthly maximum contribution is $125. The new higher limit would expire at the end of 2012.

As recently as 2009 Congress passed the 2009 economic stimulus law, under which employees were able to reduce their taxable salaries by up to $230 a month to pay for mass transit expenses. At that time, the maximum contribution was $120 per month.

On the defensive, the White House scrambled Thursday, according to CNN, to explain its requirement that church-affiliated employers cover birth control after House Speaker John Boehner called it unconstitutional and demanded immediate reconsideration.

Under President Barack Obama's health care reform law, most employers and insurance plans will have to cover birth control free of charge as a preventive service for women. The administration had already ruled that churches and houses of worship do not have to follow that requirement, but officials recently announced that many religious-affiliated institutions such as hospitals, colleges and charities must comply.

The wave of protest that followed appears to have taken administration officials by surprise. Catholic and Protestant evangelical leaders criticized the decision as infringing on freedom of religion. Some religious liberals called it politically risky for Obama in a close election year.

"I think this mandate violates our Constitution," Boehner, R-Ohio, said Thursday. "I think it violates the rights of these religious organizations. And I would hope that the administration would back up and take another look at this." Boehner is Catholic and is joined by Catholic Bishops across the nation in opposing this policy.

Also joining in disapproval was a group that includes Democratic lawmakers who helped engineer final passage of the health care law. The group "Democrats for Life of America" represents anti-abortion lawmakers who provided the margin of victory for passage of the health care overhaul.

Medicare Advantage enrollments have risen a bigger-than-expected 10% since this time last year according to the Department of Health and Human Services.

And in even better news average premiums have fallen 7% to $31.54/month as average premiums have fallen from $33.97 in 2011 while enrollment inceased from 11.7 million to 12.8 millio persons for 2012.

"The Medicare Advantage program is stronger than ever," said Secretary Sebelius. "Premiums are down on average, enrollment is up, and thanks to the Affordable Care Act we have unprecedented new tools to ensure that seniors and people with disabilities are getting the best value out of their coverage."

The report stated that since 2010, when the Affordable Care Act was passed, Medicare Advantage premiums have fallen by 16 percent and enrollment has climbed by 17 percent.

Analysis

While this could be true, I do not see a cause and effect that is obvious, or evidence from HHS to support it. What HHS offers is this: "Not only are average premiums lower, but plans are better, with more beneficiaries enrolled in 4 and 5 star plans," said CMS Acting Administrator Marilyn Tavenner. "The Affordable Care Act has strengthened Medicare Advantage by motivating plans to improve the quality of their coverage." Again, ths is great, but this evidence is not definitive.

Better quality plans are likley to lead to health care efficiencies which would bring down monthly premiums, but this may take more than a year to see results of dramatic savings. Call me a hopeful skeptic needing more evidence, but what are your thoughts?