Wondering how your place of employment affects your contraceptive coverage? It’s been a year since the Supreme Court ruling on the Hobby Lobby case and, just last Friday, the Obama administration finalized rules that will allow women working for particular religious non-profits and corporations to still receive coverage for their contraceptives. With these new rules in place, employees in need of contraceptives will still have access to insurance plans that cover contraceptives, even if their employers have religious objections.
As this recent article in the Bangor Daily News explains, if an employer objects to providing contraceptive care, they are required to report these objections to the federal government. If the federal government finds these objections valid, they will then notify the insurer or third-party health plan administrators. These administrators then become responsible for providing contraceptive coverage for the employee. This coverage comes at no cost to the employer. According to the June 2014 ruling, the only employers that are able to claim exemptions are non-profit religiously affiliated organizations and closely held private corporations.
Still a bit confused about which employers have to provide coverage? The Kaiser Family Foundation has created a helpful infographic that explains whether or not an employer is required to provide coverage for contraceptives. You can find that graphic here.
