State and federal contraceptive coverage requirements: implications for women and employers
- Series Title(s):
- Issue brief (Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation)
- Author(s):
- Sobel, Laurie, author Salganicoff, Alina, author Gomez, Ivette, author
- Contributor(s):
- Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, issuing body.
- Publication:
- Menlo Park, CA : Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, March 2018
- Language(s):
- English
- Format:
- Text
- Subject(s):
- Contraception -- ethics Employment -- ethics Health Benefit Plans, Employee -- ethics Insurance Benefits -- ethics Insurance Coverage -- ethics Morals Religion Women Federal Government State Government Humans United States United States.
- Genre(s):
- Technical Report
- Abstract:
- Contraceptive Coverage under the Affordable Care Act (ACA) has made access to the full range of contraceptive methods affordable to millions of women. Since it was first issued in 2012, this provision has been controversial and has been the focus of two major cases that have reached the Supreme Court. Following the Hobby Lobby ruling, the Obama Administration took the stand that almost all women had an entitlement to the contraceptive benefit and developed an "accommodation" to assure they would still get coverage, even if their employer had religious objections to contraception. The Trump Administration, in contrast, has prioritized the rights of employers, and in October 2017, issued regulations that significantly broadened the exemption to nearly any employer with a religious or moral objection. The new regulations have been challenged by 8 states and have been blocked from being implemented pending the outcome of the litigation. Before the ACA was passed, many states had enacted contraceptive equity laws that required plans to treat contraceptives in the same way they covered other services. In addition, since the ACA was passed, a number of states have enacted laws that basically codify in state legislation the ACA benefit rules (requiring all plans to cover, without cost-sharing each of the 18 FDA approved contraceptive methods). This issue brief provides an update on the status of the continuing litigation on the federal contraceptive requirement and explains the interplay between the federal and state contraceptive coverage laws and the implications for employers and women.
- Copyright:
- Reproduced with permission of the copyright holder. Further use of the material is subject to CC BY license. (More information)
- Extent:
- 1 online resource (1 PDF file (10 unnumbered pages)).
- NLM Unique ID:
- 101740228 (See catalog record)
- Permanent Link:
- http://resource.nlm.nih.gov/101740228