Tax-exempt religious employers also exempt from contraception mandate

This story comesfrom a recent piece in the Los Angeles Times discussing the Obamaadministration’s proposal that employees of religiously affiliated employersget coverage for contraception through a separate, private insurance companyfree of cost.

The AffordableCare Act’s contraception mandate is the center of many lawsuits that challengethe law for imposing on religious freedom. Advocates of reproductive rights andreligiously affiliated employers vehemently disagree on the appropriateness ofthe contraception mandate and the administration’s most recent proposalattempts to reconcile the concerns of both groups.

Under this newproposal, churches and other houses of worship are exempt from thecontraception mandate as long as the institutions qualify as a tax-exemptreligious employer. Hospitals, charities, and universities having religiousaffiliations primarily providing nonreligious services, on the other hand, donot receive exemption from the contraception mandate in the same way aschurches and houses of worship. However, the proposal offers a system by whichemployers are sheltered from having to pay for the contraception coverage andfrom having to arrange contraception coverage for their employees.

http://articles.latimes.com/2013/feb/01/nation/la-na-insurance-contraceptives-20130202

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