1、CRS INSIGHT Prepared for Members and Committees of Congress Legal SidebarLegal Sidebari i New Interim Final Rules Expand Options for Employers with Religious or Moral Objections to Contraceptive Coverage Updated October 19, 2017 The Departments of the Treasury, Labor, and Health and Human Services (
2、HHS) have jointly issued new regulations to address certain employers religious and moral objections to providing contraceptive coverage without cost in their group health plans, likely ending long-standing litigation, but prompting court challenges over the new rules. The new regulations interpret
3、a statutory requirement from the Affordable Care Act (ACA) that group coverage plans and health insurance issuers provide coverage for “preventive care” with no-cost sharing requirement for employees. The Obama Administration interpreted this requirement to necessitate the inclusion of contraceptive
4、 services as covered preventive care, and the new rules do not eliminate this inclusion. In comments about the scope of the new regulations, however, the agencies indicated their belief that, as long as federal guidelines continue to require contraceptive coverage, the alternatives available to empl
