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Administration to Adapt Contraception Coverage after Wheaton College Case

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Obamacare faces new challenges, although not insurmountable ones, as it will have to adapt contraception coverage. After the Hobby Lobby case determined important changes in how the Affordable Care Act obliges employers to cover the contraception costs for female employees, another case reflecting religious opposition on the matter will lead to further policy adaptation.

Religious non-profits declining to offer contraceptives through insurance coverage can opt-out by filling a Form 700. But the final decision of the Supreme Court regarding the Wheaton College case is about to change that. The Illinois based Wheaton College is an evangelical institution which legally complained against the procedure. The reason was that by filling a form, they acknowledge a system contravening their religious principles, even if third-parties would manage the affair.

Recently, after the Hobby Lobby case, the State of New York decided to solve the matter at state level. After noticing that three out of five pregnancies are unplanned, the state administration decide to cover post-birth contraception costs.

The government will adapt contraception coverage within a month

The Supreme Court agreed with Wheaton College and concluded that the religious non-profits do not have to fill the required form. Instead, they will have to simply inform the administration about their religious views. According to the Washington Post, the three female court judges harshly criticized the decision. Judge Sonia Sotomayor is discontent with the Court’s decision. “After expressly relying on the availability of the religious-nonprofit accommodation to hold that the contraceptive coverage requirement violates RFRA as applied to closely held for-profit corporations, the court now . . . retreats from that position,”, she stated on Thursday.

Obama administration will soon adapt contraception coverage through Affordable Care Act

Now, the Obama administration has to find another way to make sure that employees have access to contraceptives while taking into consideration the Supreme Court’s latest decision. The Hobby Lobby case leaves marks in the Affordable Care Act. “The administration believes the accommodation is legally sound but in light of the Supreme Court order regarding Wheaton College, the Departments intend to augment their regulations to provide an alternative way for objecting non-profit religious organizations to provide notification, while ensuring that enrollees in plans of such organizations receive separate coverage of contraceptive services without cost sharing,” a White House official stated, The Hill notes. The administration decided to take action, even if the Wheaton Case injunction does not determine the Supreme Court to oblige the government to take a certain action. No further details were stated on how exactly the administration will adapt contraception coverage in the light of the court’s decision.

What the Supreme Court Decision in Hobby Lobby Case Means

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Obama’s health care law received a blow today as the Supreme Court has reached a decision in the Hobby Lobby case. The vote behind the Supreme Court decision in Hobby Lobby ended with a 5-4 result in favor of ‘closely’ held business’s right to oppose mandatory contraception insurance coverage due to sincere religious belief.

Hobby Lobby is a business owned by a devout religious family who filed a law suit against the Department of Health and Human Services in September 2012. The reason was that under the Affordable Care Act, the company would be obliged to provide health insurance covering contraception for their female employees. The principle would violate their religious belief, the files stated.

Statements regarding the Supreme Court decision in Hobby Lobby case

The Religious Freedom Restoration Act lies at the foundation of today’s Supreme Court’s decision, Justice Alito stated as a spokesperson for the five winning voters, all Republican named Justices. More precisely, the decision applies in the cases of companies with 50 percent of the stock in the hands of maximum five people, if they have a clear religious belief.

Supreme Court decision in Hobby Lobby case favors closely held companies

On the other side, Democrat named Justice Ruth Bader Ginsburg provided a 35 pages harsh rebuttal of the decision. She stated that providing no-cost contraception for women is “a compelling interest in public health and women’s well being.” Moreover, she added that companies were not enforced in any way to act in opposition to the owners’ religious beliefs, as the Affordable Care Act “calls on the companies covered by the requirement to direct money into undifferentiated funds that finance a wide variety of benefits under comprehensive health plans.”

The Supreme Court decision in Hobby Lobby case has wider implications. The former president of the American College of Gynecologists and Obstetricians, Dr. Jeanne Conry, says that the Supreme Court’s decision puts the medical personnel in a difficult position to provide health care in the best interest of the female patients. “This clearly puts an employer in the exam room with me and my patient, and that’s untenable”, Dr. Jeanne Conry added.

There is a whole new world of possibilities opening up after this decision has been stated. One of them is that ‘closely’ held business does not necessarily mean small – Cargill, Koch Industries, Dell, and Heinz, for example, have tens of thousands of employees and dozens of $ billions in revenues, but they are closely held. It means that a Pandora’s Box has been opened. Due to the fact that the First Amendament does not differentiate between human speech and corporate speech, the Supreme Court decision in Hobby Lobby case could influence subsequent decisions on how political campaigns might get funded.

 

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