An updated brief from the Kaiser Family Foundation explains
today’s new regulations from the Trump Administration that greatly expand the
types of employers that may be granted an exemption from the Affordable Care
Act’s contraceptive coverage rule.
The new regulations could reduce the number of women
receiving contraceptive coverage with no out-of-pocket cost by allowing more
employers to drop the requirement that all plans cover the full range of
FDA-approved contraceptives without cost-sharing. Female employees, dependents,
and students at institutions that choose to claim this exemption will no longer
have guaranteed contraceptive coverage, placing some of the most effective yet
costly methods out of financial reach for many women.
Under the previous regulations, only houses of
worship could claim an exemption to the ACA’s contraceptive coverage rule and
decline to provide any birth control coverage for female employees or
dependents. The new rules grant broad exemption to nonprofit or for-profit
employers with religious objections to contraceptive coverage, including
private colleges and universities and publicly traded companies. In addition,
nonprofit employers or closely-held for-profit employers with moral objections
to contraception are also eligible for exemptions.
Filling the need for trusted information on
national health issues, the Kaiser Family Foundation is a nonprofit
organization based in Menlo Park, California.
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