Debate Over Coverage of Contraceptives by Religious Employers Heats Up

6/17/2015

Under the preventive services provision of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, non-grandfathered, non-excepted group health plans are required to cover all FDA-approved forms of contraception and related services without cost sharing for plan years beginning on or after August 1, 2012, when delivered by in-network providers. Religious employers are excused from the mandate only if they employ and serve members of their own faith, e.g., churches. Religious employers that do not meet those qualifications, e.g., religious universities and hospitals, must comply with the mandate but have an additional year to comply, by August 1, 2013.

After public outcry from religious groups, the Obama Administration offered a compromise that would require the insurers of religious employers to pay for contraceptives. The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops (USCCB) has said publicly that the solution offered by the White House is unacceptable because it still infringes on the religious liberty and conscience of Catholics. The USCCB has promised a legal challenge to the administration’s ruling. Other challengers include Catholic schools and a Catholic social service organization sponsoring group health plans for employees and Catholic individuals covered by group health plans of Catholic organizations. The courts have dismissed the cases as premature in light of an existing non-enforcement safe harbor and continued agency rulemaking that may lead to modified requirements for organizations with religious objections.