Dive Brief:
- The U.S. Supreme Court has blocked implementation of a requirement in the ACA that employers offer health insurance that includes birth control. The ruling temporarily enjoins the government from enforcing the contraceptive requirement in PPACA; the government has until Friday 10 AM EST to respond to the order.
- The decision comes in response to federal court filings by Catholic affiliated groups around the nation, designed to delay the requirements.
- In response, the Obama administration issued a statement saying that it is confident its rules "strike the balance of providing women with free contraceptive coverage of preventing nonreligious organizations with religious objections to conduct to contraceptive coverage from having to contract, arrange, pay, or refer for such coverage."
Dive Insight:
As things stand, churches and other houses of worship are exempt from the birth control requirement in the ACA, but organizations that are affiliated with religious organizations - - such as academic medical centers affiliated with religious orders -- are not exempt from the requirement. These affiliated organizations have become the battleground upon which larger social issues will be played out. I do not anticipate this problem working itself out completely in 2014, as both sides seem determined to hold their ground.