zubik v burwell justia

(2) Is providing “seamless” contraceptive care a “compelling governmental interest”? And (3) is the “mandate” the “least restrictive means” of achieving that “interest”? In resolving these cases, the Court must consider a series of threshold questions in deciding whether the contraceptive coverage requirement is in violation of the RFRA (Figure 2). At the beginning of this term, the conservative agenda seemed clear: dismantle affirmative action and public-employee unions, and fashion RFRA into a tool that would allow anyone—corporation, church, or individual—to opt out of the regulatory state at any time for any reason. By providing notice they contend they will “facilitate” or “trigger” the provision of insurance coverage for contraceptive services, enabling their insurance company or their third party administrator “to provide the morally objectionable coverage and allow their health plans to be used as a vehicle to bring about a morally objectionable wrong.”2 The Government contends that it is federal law that requires the insurance issuer or the third party administrator to provide this coverage, not the actual act of notification. This ruling, however, only settled part of the legal questions raised by the contraceptive coverage requirement, as other legal challenges have been brought by nonprofit corporations. The new plan would be for employers to tell their insurers they don’twant their plan to cover contraceptive coverage. May 21 2015: Letter dated May 21, 2015, from counsel for respondent received. The Little Sisters of the Poor and others contend the Government cannot have a “compelling” reason to require them to complete the notice when their TPA is not required to provide the contraceptive coverage.

This notice then qualifies them for an “accommodation” relieving them of the requirement to pay for the benefit, yet assuring that women workers and women dependents get the contraceptive coverage to which they are entitled under the ACA. Its voice from the bench, like HAL’s, is slowing and blurring. Depending on the outcome of the nonprofit cases before the Supreme Court, some closely held corporations may challenge the accommodation as applied to them, contending that the accommodation still substantially burdens the corporation, in much the same way that the religiously-affiliated nonprofits have done. All of the Circuits that have heard the cases of the petitioners in the consolidated case have ruled in favor of the Government, finding that the accommodation is not a substantial burden.

In addition, she notes, the “contraceptives only” policies that some Justices wondered about “do not currently exist,” and may very well not be permitted under federal law. The Government contends that none of these alternatives would be as effective in achieving its compelling interest because they would place “financial, logistical, informational, and administrative burdens” on women seeking contraceptive services.22, In the Court’s Hobby Lobby ruling, Justice Alito, wrote about the accommodation as a “less restrictive means,” to provide contraceptive coverage.

; on writ of certiorari to the united states court of appeals for the third circuit.

Official websites use .gov The nonprofit employers challenging the accommodation have selected different types of health insurance plans that address the accommodation in different ways (Table 1). As the astronaut disconnects HAL’s memory units, the once omniscient computer sings “Daisy, Daisy,” and then falls silent forever. The legal challenges have fallen into two groups: those filed by for-profit corporations and those filed by nonprofit organizations and both have reached the Supreme Court.

Figure 1: Employers Objecting to Contraceptive Coverage: Exemptions and Accommodations. 14–1418 v. SYLVIA BURWELL, SECRETARY OF HEALTH AND HUMAN SERVICES, et al. Religiously-affiliated nonprofits and closely held for-profit corporations are not eligible for an exemption. (No case supports that idea.) The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation Headquarters: 185 Berry St., Suite 2000, San Francisco, CA 94107 | Phone 650-854-9400 Eighteen petitioners, including Little Sisters of the Poor, have a self-insured church plan,7 which is different than other types of employer self-insured plans in that it is explicitly not regulated by ERISA as are other self-insured plans.

Employer assumes the risk of providing covered services and usually contracts with a third party administrator (TPA) to manage the claims payment process. Since the implementation of the ACA contraceptive coverage requirement in 2012, over 200 corporations have filed lawsuits claiming that their religious beliefs are violated by the inclusion of that coverage or the “accommodation” offered by the federal government. RFRA was enacted in 1993 to protect “persons” from generally applicable laws that burden their free exercise of religion. This would certainly be less restrictive of the plaintiffs’ religious liberty, and HHS has not shown … that this is not a viable alternative.”24 Justice Ginsburg disagrees with this position in her dissent citing evidence that Title X cannot absorb more people, and it would be burdensome for women to find out about and sign up for another health insurance plan for contraceptives.

Federal government websites often end in .gov or .mil. Most employers are required to include the coverage in their plans. In their supplemental brief, the challengers said they were perfectly happy with the Court’s “compromise” plan—as long as contraceptive coverage was “provided through a separate policy, with a separate enrollment process, a separate insurance card, and a separate payment source.” This segregation of contraception, however, was precisely what the government was seeking to avoid. (Paul Clement, a lawyer for the challengers, told the Court solemnly that the “accommodation” was every bit as oppressive as requiring Catholic nuns to operate a birth-control clinic in their convent.) The employer does not pay for or control this benefit but it is considered part of the employer’s plan.

For example, church-related hospitals, educational institutions and nonprofits that provide services to the aging, children, youth and family, may sponsor church plans. Washington Offices and Barbara Jordan Conference Center: 1330 G Street, NW, Washington, DC 20005 | Phone 202-347-5270, www.kff.org | Email Alerts: kff.org/email | facebook.com/KaiserFamilyFoundation | twitter.com/kff. As a secular nonprofit, however, it is not eligible for the exemption or accommodation available to religious organizations. The nonprofits argue there are less restrictive ways to accomplish the same goals, including allowing employees to qualify for subsidies on the exchange so they can enroll in an entirely new plan or a contraceptive only plan, or using Title X, the federal family planning program, to provide contraceptives to employees and dependents who lack coverage.

All Rights Reserved. v. Burwell, and Dordt College et al. The Archdiocese of Washington, the Diocese of Pittsburg, and the Diocese of Erie, each sponsor a self-insured church plan administered by a TPA, and have invited nonexempt nonprofit religiously affiliated organizations to participate in their plan.
The .gov means it’s official. Response to application from respondent Sylvia Burwell, Secretary of Health and Human Services, et al. Among the most contentious and litigated elements of the Affordable Care Act (ACA) is the requirement that most private health insurance plans provide coverage for a broad range of preventive services, including Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved prescription contraceptives and services for women. 11  These are typically two separate entities. Following these rulings, a number of the litigants petitioned the Supreme Court to review their cases, which the Court agreed to do on November 6, 2015. (202) 514-2203, 14-1418, 14-1453, 14-1505, 15-35, 15-119, and 15-191, Civil Div. v. Burwell) that the religiously affiliated nonprofits are substantially burdened by the accommodation to the contraceptive coverage requirement, and the accommodation is not the least restrictive means of furthering the government’s interests (Figure 5). Houses of worship can choose to be exempt from the requirement if they have religious objections (Figure 1). Because church plans are not governed under ERISA, they are not required to follow the ACA-related health reform mandates incorporated only into the ERISA law.8 However, church plans are required to follow all the ACA provisions included in the Internal Revenue Code (IRC).9  The IRS may impose penalty taxes on group health plans, including church plans for noncompliance with the contraceptive coverage provision.10. Right now, it pointed out, the employees arereceiving the coverage under an interim order issued in 2014. The government, and many advocacy groups, responded that an accommodation was one thing; the demand for an exemption even from asking for an accommodation was a radical escalation of the idea of religious freedom. As Justice Sonia Sotomayor points out in a special concurrence to the Court’s “per curiam” order, the language suggests that courts below should notapprove any settlement that does not provide “seamless” coverage. The majority opinion hints that the accommodation may not be least restrictive means: “The most straightforward way of doing this would be for the Government to assume the cost of providing the four contraceptives at issue to any women who are unable to obtain them under their health-insurance policies due to their employers’ religious objections. 14–1453 v. DEPARTMENT OF HEALTH AND … This meant the government was “hijacking” the employers’ policies, they said, placing a “substantial burden” on their religious beliefs.

It had argued that contraceptive coverage must be “seamless,” offered as part of the regular coverage. A couple of the male justices suggested at argument that maybe women’s reproductive health care ought to just be cut out of “normal” health policies and women should be required to buy a special birth-control policy and pay out of their own pockets. However, unlike the other Federal Courts of Appeals, the 8th Circuit ruled in two separate cases (Sharpe Holdings Inc. et al.
A TPA for a church plan is not required to provide the coverage.

Because the government’s authority to require a TPA to provide contraceptive coverage derives from ERISA, the government cannot actually enforce these regulations for self-funded church plans.12 While employers with self-funded church plans are required to provide notice of their objection, the TPAs for these plans have no enforceable obligation to provide the employees with contraceptive coverage.

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