Tag Archives: George Washington University

Tell me again what’s wrong with this administration requiring most employers to cover birth control which the Bush administration also required without the hysterics from those on the Right?

In fact some twenty-six states have also implemented the law.

So what is the big deal here?

Kick! Making Politics Fun says:

BTW, did you know that in the Sherman State of Georgia they have a state mandate for this very same thing law, as do 25 other states?

Politifact:

A study by the Guttmacher Institute in 2002 found that 86 percent of employer-purchased insurance plans covered a full range of contraceptive methods, up dramatically over the previous decade. One reason is that 27 states have passed laws requiring fully-insured employer health insurance plans that cover prescription drugs to provide “equitable” coverage for contraceptives. In short, if an employer is going to offer prescription drugs, contraceptives have to be among the options.

Mother Jones

The right has freaked out over an Obama administration rule requiring employers to offer birth control to their employees. Most companies already had to do that.

President Barack Obama’s decision to require most employers to cover birth control and insurers to offer it at no cost has created a firestorm of controversy. But the central mandate—that most employers have to cover preventative care for women—has been law for over a decade. This point has been completely lost in the current controversy, as Republican presidential candidates and social conservatives claim that Obama has launched a war on religious liberty and the Catholic Church.

Despite the longstanding precedent, “no one screamed” until now, said Sara Rosenbaum, a health law expert at George Washington University.

In December 2000, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ruled that companies that provided prescription drugs to their employees but didn’t provide birth control were in violation of Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act, which prevents discrimination on the basis of sex. That opinion, which the George W. Bush administration did nothing to alter or withdraw when it took office the next month, is still in effect today—and because it relies on Title VII of the Civil Rights Act, it applies to all employers with 15 or more employees. Employers that don’t offer prescription coverage or don’t offer insurance at all are exempt, because they treat men and women equally—but under the EEOC’s interpretation of the law, you can’t offer other preventative care coverage without offering birth control coverage, too.

“It was, we thought at the time, a fairly straightforward application of Title VII principles,” a top former EEOC official who was involved in the decision told Mother Jones. “All of these plans covered Viagra immediately, without thinking, and they were still declining to cover prescription contraceptives. It’s a little bit jaw-dropping to see what is going on now…There was some press at the time but we issued guidances that were far, far more controversial.”

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• Tim Kaine splits with Obama administration on birth control rule – Washington Post (washingtonpost.com)
• How Zealous Clergy and Their Media Enablers Are Manufacturing a Controversy Over Birth Control Coverage (alternet.org)
• Majority Of Catholics Believe Employers Should Cover Birth Control (mykeystrokes.com)
• White House: Romney ‘Odd Messenger’ To Attack Birth Control Mandate (washington.cbslocal.com)
• Boehner vows action to overturn Obama administration rule on birth control – Washington Post (washingtonpost.com)