Congress Did Not Exempt Anyone From Women's Health Requirements.

    Catholic bishops in the United States, and their law firm Jones Day it is reported, have filed at least 12 lawsuits in different Federal District Courts to challenge a legal requirement that is not in the Affordable Care Act.  If you read their press releases, you would get the impression that they want you to think their lawsuits are all about requirements imposed by the President that they "provide birth control" to women.  See, e.g., Laurie Goodstein, "Bishops Sue Over Mandate to Provide Birth Control" p. A13, col. 1 (New York Times Nat'l ed., Tuesday, May 22, 2012), misleadingly re-titled online as "Catholics File Suits on Contraceptive Coverage".  There is no such mandate.

    And there is no exemption in the statute for "religious employers".  Instead, the Affordable Care Act applies equally to all Employers, with no exceptions in the Act.  This must be clearly understood, or nothing wonderful can come of the truth here.

    Stepping back for a moment, the Affordable Care Act or "ACA" is really made up of a series of new provisions and amendments to old laws. 

    The Affordable Care Act reorganizes, adds and amends each of the following 22 other Federal Acts and Statutes:

1. The Public Health Services Act (PHS)
2. The Health Insurance Portability and Accountability Act
3. The Social Security Act
4. The False Claims Act
5. The Internal Revenue Code of 1986
6. The Assistance Tax Act of 2008
7. The Fair Labor Standards Act of 1938
8. The Black Lung Benefits Act
9. The Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 ["ERISA"]
10. The Children's Health Insurance Program Reauthorization Act of 2009
11. The Deficit Reduction Act of 2005
12. The Medicare Improvements for Patients and Providers Act of 2008
13. The Medicare Prescription Drug, Improvement, and  
    Modernization Act of 2003
14. The Medicare, Medicaid, and SCHIP Extension Act of 2007
15. The Omnibus Budget Reconciliation Act of 1993
16. The Federal Food, Drug, and Cosmetic Act
17. The Rehabilitation Act of 1973
18. The Higher Education Act of 1965
19. The Department of Health and Human Services Appropriations Act
20. The Prescription Drug Improvement and Modernization Act of 2003
21. The Indian Health Care Improvement Act, and
22. The Civil Rights of Institutionalized Persons Act.

     In order to be a "qualified health plan" under the ACA, Section 1301(b)(1)(B) [42 U.S.C. § 18021(b)(1)(B)] imposes a requirement that the plan must offer" an essential health benefits package described in the Act.

    The determination of what are "essential health benefits" is left in the Statute largely to the rule-making power of the Secretary of Health and Human Services. However, the Statute provides at least general guidance for these administrative regulations, by which means Congress intended that the administrative regulations should follow the Affordable Care Act:

SEC. 1302 [42 U.S.C. § 18022]. ESSENTIAL HEALTH BENEFITS REQUIREMENTS.

(a) ESSENTIAL HEALTH BENEFITS PACKAGE.-In this title, the term "essential health benefits package" means, with respect to any health plan, coverage that:

            (1) provides for the essential health benefits defined by the Secretary under subsection (b);

(2) limits cost-sharing for such coverage in accordance with subsection (c); and

(3) subject to subsection (e), provides either the bronze, silver, gold, or platinum level of coverage described in subsection (d).

 

    Congress imposed these requirements on ALL EMPLOYERS 'covered' by the Act.  Congress DID NOT EXEMPT ANY EMPLOYER from the requirement to provide "minimum essential benefits" in a "qualified health care plan" -- and that includes health services for women.

    However, the Secretary of Health and Human Services, a branch of the Obama Administration, DID provide an exemption -- and for "religious employers".  THAT is what this new litigation challenges.

    How Congress addressed women's health issues in the Affordable Care Act statutes, and how the Secretary of Health and Human Services and other officials of the Federal Government address both women's health issues, and the concerns of Employers which claim an exemption for their religions, are continued in future posts.

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