The Catholic Health Association has now decided that it doesn’t believe that church affiliated employers should have to offer coverage for birth control in their employer sponsored health insurance plans. In other words, they have decided that they want hospitals to have the same exemption to this requirement that churches have been given. On August 1, 2011, the Department of Health and Human Services added women’s health care to the category of preventive services. This meant that all health plans, including employer sponsored health insurance, had to cover the cost of birth control without charging the policyholder a copayment, co-insurance, … Continue reading →

The battle over birth control coverage continues. Over 500 people attended a protest in Chicago about the federal requirement that employer sponsored health plans must cover birth control. Unsurprisingly, the majority of the crowd of protesters were Catholic. There are two sides to this ongoing battle. On one side, is the federal government, who want women to be able to have access to birth control. The government recognizes that birth control is an important part of preventative care for women. As such, the requirement says that all employer sponsored health insurance plans must include coverage for contraception, without cost to … Continue reading →