Trump administration revisits moral and religious exemptions for birth control coverage
FierceHealthcare | October 15, 2018
A contentious federal rule that would expand employer exemptions for contraceptive coverage based on “moral convictions” is back under review by the Office of Management and Budget (OMB). Last year, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) released two proposed rules loosening contraceptive coverage exemptions under the Affordable Care Act (ACA). One interim final rule expanded exemptions for religious employers to opt out of the ACA's mandate. But the second—which generated immediate blowback from women’s rights organizations, the American Civil Liberties Union (ACLU) and state attorneys general—created an entirely new exemption for employers on the basis of “moral convictions.” Following several legal challenges from the ACLU and a group of blue states, two judges blocked the administration’s rollback of the birth-control mandates. Several of those cases are on hold while the administration appeals a preliminary injunction requested by California.