Article credited to: SHRM.org, written by Stephen Miller, CEBS
Most employer health plans are expected to continue providing no-cost contraception coverage for women, despite the Trump administration’s announcement of new rules last week that it will allow employers to claim a religious or moral objection to the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive coverage requirement.
“Employer-sponsored health plans for next year have, for the most part, been set already,” said Kim Buckey, vice president of compliance communications at Birmingham, Ala.-based DirectPath, an employee engagement and health care compliance firm. “Given that there will undoubtedly be lawsuits filed immediately challenging the new rules, I don’t think too many employers will make a midyear change, nor will those with non-calendar-year plans take any fast action.”
Two New Rules
Under the Affordable Care Act, non-grandfathered plans must cover 18 types of contraception without cost-sharing. But on Oct. 5, the Departments of Health and Human Services (HHS), Labor and Treasury jointly issued two interim final rules, which took effect immediately, that will expand the ability of employers to opt out of the contraceptive requirement:
- The first rule outlines how an employer can claim an exemption from the contraceptive mandate for religious beliefs.
- The second rule provides an exemption for sincerely held moral convictions.
These exemptions are available to both private and public companies, and they won’t have to file a request with the government to stop offering birth control coverage—they can simply notify their employees of the decision, according to… read full article