Pres. Barack Obama is caught in a firestorm over his decision to require religious employers to cover contraceptives in employee health plans. Congressional Republicans are calling the requirement an attack on religious freedom. 

Now, Obama is looking to Hawaii state law for a possible solution. The Wall Street Journal reports:

One possibility, which was discussed in the internal debate before Mr. Obama’s decision, is to model a compromise after a law in Hawaii.

Hawaii law requires health-insurance plans to cover contraception in the same way they cover other prescription drugs. But it allows religious employers to enroll workers in a plan with a reduced premium, and allows employees who want contraception to pay for the coverage out of their own pockets directly to the insurer. The result is no employer funds go toward contraception, and employees don’t pay more for contraceptive coverage than if they worked for an employer that did include it.

The National Catholic Reporter has also chimed in, pointing to downsides of Hawaii’s law. 

Walter Yoshimitsu, chancellor of the Honolulu diocese and executive director of the Hawaii Catholic Conference, told the newspaper that in most cases the model works, but issues still remain:

For instance, despite the presence of the refusal clause in state law, some insurance companies decline to honor it.

Yoshimitsu said that Kaiser Permanente includes contraception coverage in all of its plans, and doesn’t provide an opt-out for anyone, even religious groups. Instead, the company provides the coverage at no cost to those who don’t want it. According to Yoshimitsu, only a small portion of people with Catholic organizations are enrolled with Kaiser, but such a policy still presents a problem because of a lack of distance between the church and the coverage.