Tag: Contraceptive Mandate

A Momentary Victory for the ACA: Federal Judge Issues a Nationwide Injunction against Trump Administration’s Contraceptive Coverage Carve Outs

On January 14, 2019, US District Judge Wendy Beetlestone in the US District Court for the Eastern District of Pennsylvania issued a nationwide preliminary injunction blocking the Trump administration’s carveouts to the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) contraceptive coverage mandate. One day prior, US District Judge Haywood Gilliam in the US District Court for the Northern District of California issued a more limited injunction blocking the same carve outs from taking effect in 13 states plus the District of Columbia.

On October 6, 2017, the Trump administration issued rules that are the subject of these two decisions. The rules would have allowed employers to raise religious and moral objections to avoid the ACA’s requirement that contraceptive coverage be provided without cost sharing under their group health plans. Under the ACA, certain contraceptive products and services are included in the list of preventive services that must be covered by most group health plans without cost sharing. The available exemptions to this rule were limited.

Judge Beetlestone reasoned that the loss of contraceptive coverage would have resulted in “significant” and “proprietary harm” to the states by causing increased use of state-funded contraceptive services, along with increased costs associated with unintended pregnancies. Without the preliminary injunction, the Trump administration’s rules would have gone into effect on January 14, 2019. The preliminary injunction does not permanently block the rules, but rather it stops the rules from going into effect while legal challenges are being pursued. Judge Beetlestone indicated that she is likely to invalidate the rules, stating that the US Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor and Treasury exceeded the scope of their authority under the ACA by issuing the carve outs.

Charnae Supplee, a law clerk in the Firm’s Washington, DC office, also contributed to this post. 

 

© 2019 McDermott Will & Emery
This post was written by Jacob Mattinson Judith Wethall and Charnae Supplee of McDermott Will & Emery.

Shaking Down the Thunder From the Sky: Notre Dame's Challenge to the Contraception Mandate

For the second time in as many years, the Seventh Circuit has declined to grant Notre Dame’s request for an injunction exempting the university from the contraception requirements of the Affordable Care Act. 

As was true back in 2014, the court remained skeptical of the link between Notre Dame’s actions (filling out a form noting its religious objections to contraceptives and sending the form to its insurance administrator) and the resulting actions (the administrator then providing the contraceptives directly to the insured). Consequently, the court ruled that Notre Dame did not meet its burden of showing that its religious beliefs were substantially burdened by the contraceptive mandate. Judge Posner wrote the majority opinion, which Judge Hamilton joined while writing a separate concurrence.

The case was back before the Seventh Circuit following the Supreme Court’s vacating of the Seventh Circuit’s 2014 opinion with directions to review the case in light of the Court’s Hobby Lobby opinion. (Odd, then, that the Seventh Circuit’s decision does not begin discussing Hobby Lobby until page 18 and discusses the case for little more than a page in a 25-page opinion.) The court concluded in short order that Hobby Lobby had virtually no application in Notre Dame’s case: In Hobby Lobby, a private sector employer wanted to receive the accommodation afforded to religious organizations, whereas Notre Dame argued that the accommodation itself was insufficient to protect its religious beliefs.

As in the original opinion, Judge Flaum strongly dissented. He once again argued that the majority was inappropriately judging the sincerity of Notre Dame’s beliefs, something he believes was foreclosed by the Hobby Lobby decision.

Perhaps most noteworthy about this opinion is that—nearly 18 months after Notre Dame filed suit—the decision simply affirmed the denial of a preliminary injunction. As both Judge Posner’s majority opinion and Judge Hamilton’s concurrence note, the record is still barren of the kinds of facts that a trial will bring out—and that could allow Notre Dame to introduce more evidence of the religious burden the contraceptive provisions of the Affordable Care Act place on the school. Yet it seems likely that before that trial occurs, Notre Dame will again petition the Supreme Court to review the Seventh Circuit’s opinion. And given the Court’s willingness to weigh in on these issues, the thunderstorm shows no signs of letting up.

ARTICLE BY Ryan N. Parsons of Foley & Lardner LLP
© 2015 Foley & Lardner LLP

Shaking Down the Thunder From the Sky: Notre Dame’s Challenge to the Contraception Mandate

For the second time in as many years, the Seventh Circuit has declined to grant Notre Dame’s request for an injunction exempting the university from the contraception requirements of the Affordable Care Act. 

As was true back in 2014, the court remained skeptical of the link between Notre Dame’s actions (filling out a form noting its religious objections to contraceptives and sending the form to its insurance administrator) and the resulting actions (the administrator then providing the contraceptives directly to the insured). Consequently, the court ruled that Notre Dame did not meet its burden of showing that its religious beliefs were substantially burdened by the contraceptive mandate. Judge Posner wrote the majority opinion, which Judge Hamilton joined while writing a separate concurrence.

The case was back before the Seventh Circuit following the Supreme Court’s vacating of the Seventh Circuit’s 2014 opinion with directions to review the case in light of the Court’s Hobby Lobby opinion. (Odd, then, that the Seventh Circuit’s decision does not begin discussing Hobby Lobby until page 18 and discusses the case for little more than a page in a 25-page opinion.) The court concluded in short order that Hobby Lobby had virtually no application in Notre Dame’s case: In Hobby Lobby, a private sector employer wanted to receive the accommodation afforded to religious organizations, whereas Notre Dame argued that the accommodation itself was insufficient to protect its religious beliefs.

As in the original opinion, Judge Flaum strongly dissented. He once again argued that the majority was inappropriately judging the sincerity of Notre Dame’s beliefs, something he believes was foreclosed by the Hobby Lobby decision.

Perhaps most noteworthy about this opinion is that—nearly 18 months after Notre Dame filed suit—the decision simply affirmed the denial of a preliminary injunction. As both Judge Posner’s majority opinion and Judge Hamilton’s concurrence note, the record is still barren of the kinds of facts that a trial will bring out—and that could allow Notre Dame to introduce more evidence of the religious burden the contraceptive provisions of the Affordable Care Act place on the school. Yet it seems likely that before that trial occurs, Notre Dame will again petition the Supreme Court to review the Seventh Circuit’s opinion. And given the Court’s willingness to weigh in on these issues, the thunderstorm shows no signs of letting up.

ARTICLE BY Ryan N. Parsons of Foley & Lardner LLP
© 2015 Foley & Lardner LLP