Government proposes new plan for contraception coverage

February 2, 2013 at 12:00a.m.

McClatchy Newspapers

WASHINGTON

The Obama administration, trying to defuse one of the most contentious issues in its health care law, proposed Friday a new way to shield religiously affiliated organizations, such as hospitals and universities, from having to provide contraceptive coverage directly to their employees.

Instead, the employees would obtain coverage through a separate, private insurance policy at no cost.

The proposed rule also reaffirms that churches and other houses of worship themselves are exempt from the contraceptive mandate in Obama’s health care overhaul and makes it easier for institutions to show that they qualify for the exemption.

For-profit businesses with more than 50 employees still will be required to provide health coverage that includes contraceptive benefits, even if the employer has moral objections to such benefits.

The Obama administration’s efforts to balance religious objections to contraception with support among public health advocates for broader access to such services has proved one of the most delicate tasks of implementing the Affordable Care Act.