A new federal rule requires health insurers to provide birth control, for free, to their policyholders. This is because birth control is considered to be preventative care. Employers who offer employer sponsored health insurance cannot opt out of this mandate. Some religious groups are upset about this.
In August of 2011, a new health reform law was passed. This law included birth control into the category of preventative care. A previous law required insurers to cover all preventative health services at no cost to the policyholder.
Essentially, this means that health insurance policies must offer all forms of prescription contraception that have been approved by the Food and Drug Administration to policyholders for free. They cannot charge people a copay or deductible for anything that is preventative care. Birth control is required to be covered by health insurance in this way beginning in August of 2012.
These rules apply to all forms of private health insurance. People who get their health insurance through their employer, and people who have purchased individual policies, will enjoy the same protection. Employers cannot choose to “opt-out” of these laws. These laws were designed to protect consumers, and to provide quality health care to Americans.
The United States Conference of Catholic Bishops has been encouraging Catholics to fight against the law regarding birth control coverage. Some faith-based health providers are pushing to be allowed to disregard this same law.
Specifically, these employers do not want to enable their employees to obtain birth control through the health insurance that the employer provides. Jane Belford, who is the chancellor of the Archdiocese of Washington, has stated that offering birth control was “anathema” to the values of her group. She said:
“Catholic organizations cannot effectively and persuasively communicate the church’s teaching that contraception and sterilization are immoral if they simultaneously pay for contraceptives for their employees”.
In my opinion, religious employers who use this type of argument are missing the point. The birth control mandate is in place because it is an effective way to enable women in America to obtain prescription medication that is beneficial to their health. To allow employers to use an excuse that is based on the personal, moral, or religious, feelings about birth control to “opt-out” of this law would be harmful to the health of women.
The religious groups want Congress to pass the “Respect for Rights of Conscience Act”. If passed, it would allow employers, health insurers, and health providers, to “opt-out” of whatever health based laws that they don’t like, because they feel it doesn’t match their own, personal, religious or moral viewpoint.
If passed, it could be used to refuse to cover the cost of health care to people who have sexually transmitted diseases, to people who need help with addiction, or to people who are homosexual. And, it would also allow them to refuse to cover the cost of birth control. I really hope Congress does not pass a law that would legalize discrimination, and that would be used to prevent Americans from getting the health care that they need.
Image by Nate Grigg on Flickr