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| FILE - In this May 15, 2012 file photo, Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius speaks in Bethesda, Md. Facing a wave of lawsuits over what government can tell religious groups to do, the Obama administration on Friday proposed a compromise for faith-based nonprofits that object to covering birth control in their employee health plans. Sebelius said in a statement that the compromise would provide "women across the nation with coverage of recommended preventive care at no cost, while respecting religious concerns." |
WASHINGTON
(AP) -- Facing a wave of lawsuits over what government can tell
religious groups to do, the Obama administration on Friday proposed a
compromise for faith-based nonprofits that object to covering birth
control in their employee health plans.
Some
of the lawsuits appear headed for the Supreme Court, threatening another
divisive legal battle over President Barack Obama's health care
overhaul law, which requires most employers to cover birth control free
of charge to female workers as a preventive service. The law exempted
churches and other houses of worship, but religious charities,
universities, hospitals and even some for-profit businesses have
objected.
The government's new offer, in a proposed regulation, has two parts.
Administration
officials said it would more simply define the religious organizations
that are exempt from the requirement altogether. For example, a mosque
whose food pantry serves the whole community would not have to comply.
For
other religious employers, the proposal attempts to create a buffer
between them and contraception coverage. Female employees would still
have free access through insurers or a third party, but the employer
would not have to arrange for the coverage or pay for it. Insurers would
be reimbursed for any costs by a credit against fees owed the
government.
It wasn't immediately clear
whether the plan would satisfy the objections of Roman Catholic
charities and other faith-affiliated nonprofits nationwide challenging
the requirement.
Neither the Catholic Health
Association, a trade group for hospitals, nor the U.S. Conference of
Catholic Bishops had an immediate reaction, saying the regulations were
still being studied.
But the National
Association of Evangelicals, which represents about 40 denominations and
works with the administration on immigration and other issues, quickly
rejected the rule. It said the change didn't create enough of a buffer
between faith groups and birth control coverage.
"The
Obama administration should have done the right thing and dropped the
contraception mandate, or at least should have exempted all religious
organizations," said Leith Anderson, the association's president.
Kyle
Duncan, general counsel for the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty,
which is representing religious nonprofits and businesses in lawsuits,
said many of his clients will still have serious concerns.
"This is a moral decision for them," Duncan said. "Why doesn't the government just exempt them?"
Some women's advocates were pleased.
"The
important thing for us is that women employees can count on getting
insurance that meets their needs, even if they're working for a
religiously affiliated employer," said Cindy Pearson, executive
director of the National Women's Health Network.
Policy
analyst Sarah Lipton-Lubet of the American Civil Liberties Union said
the rule appeared to meet the ACLU's goal of providing "seamless
coverage."
Health and Human Services Secretary
Kathleen Sebelius said in a statement that the compromise would provide
"women across the nation with coverage of recommended preventive care
at no cost, while respecting religious concerns."
The
birth-control rule, first introduced a year ago, became an election
issue, with some advocates for women praising the mandate as a victory
but some religious leaders decrying it as an attack on faith groups.
The
health care law requires most employers, including faith-affiliated
hospitals and nonprofits, to provide preventive care at no charge to
employees. Scientific advisers to the government recommended that
artificial contraception, including sterilization, be included in a
group of services for women. The goal, in part, is to help women space
out pregnancies to promote health.
Under the
original rule, only those religious groups that primarily employ and
serve people of their own faith - such as churches - were exempt. But
other religiously affiliated groups, such as church-affiliated
universities, Catholic Charities and hospitals, were told they had to
comply.
Catholic bishops, evangelicals and
some religious leaders who have generally been supportive of Obama's
policies lobbied fiercely for a broader exemption. The Catholic Church
prohibits the use of artificial contraception. Evangelicals generally
accept the use of birth control, but some object to specific methods
such as the morning-after contraceptive pill, which they argue is
tantamount to abortion, and is covered by the policy.
Obama
had promised to change the birth control requirement so insurance
companies - and not faith-affiliated employers - would pay for the
coverage, but religious leaders said more changes were needed to make
the plan work.
Since then, more than 40
lawsuits have been filed by religious nonprofits and secular for-profit
businesses contending the mandate violates their religious beliefs. As
expected, this latest regulation does not provide any accommodation for
individual business owners who have religious objections to the rule.
Questions
remain about how the services ultimately will be funded. The Health and
Human Services Department has not tallied an overall cost for the plan,
according to Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, an HHS deputy policy director.
However,
in its new version of the rule, the department argues that the change
won't impose new costs on insurers because it will save them money "from
improvements in women's health and fewer child births."
The
latest version of the mandate is now subject to a 60-day public comment
period. The overall mandate is to take effect for religious nonprofits
in August.
