Smart Benefits: Two Regs Issued on Contraceptive Coverage
Monday, September 01, 2014
• Proposed regulations on how certain closely held for-profit organizations can exclude some or all contraceptive coverage. Following the June 20 Supreme Court decision in the Hobby Lobby case that ruled closely-held, for-profit corporations can’t be required to cover contraceptives that violate the owners’ religious beliefs, the proposed regulations would allow certain closely held for-profit organizations to opt out of providing contraceptive coverage. In these situations, insurers or TPAs would provide contraceptive coverage at no cost, the same way they currently do for religious non-profit organizations that opt out of contraceptive coverage.
The proposed regulations also seek input on how to define a closely held for-profit organization that would be eligible to opt out. Two alternative proposed definitions are:
• Not publicly traded, and ownership is limited to a certain number of owners; or
• Not publicly traded, and a minimum percentage of ownership is concentrated among a certain number of owners
A 60-day comment period for input on the proposed regulations is now open.
• Interim final regulations about eligible organizations’ communication for opting out of contraceptive coverage. Since some religious non-profit organizations such as charities, hospitals and schools have objected to signing the current self-certification form required to opt out of providing contraceptive coverage, the interim final regulations allow eligible organizations to notify HHS in writing of their objection to contraceptive coverage rather than using the form. Once HHS receives this information, HHS (or the DOL for self-funded plans) will notify the insurer or TPA.
Eligible organizations can still choose to use the self-certification form.
Related Slideshow: New England’s Healthiest States
The United Health Foundation recently released its 2013 annual reoprt: America's Health Rankings, which provides a comparative state by state analysis of several health measures to provide a comprehensive perspective of our nation's health issues. See how the New England states rank in the slides below.
Definitions
All Outcomes Rank: Outcomes represent what has already occurred, either through death, disease or missed days due to illness. In America's Health Rankings, outcomes include prevalence of diabetes, number of poor mental or physical health days in last 30 days, health disparity, infant mortality rate, cardiovascular death rate, cancer death rate and premature death. Outcomes account for 25% of the final ranking.
Determinants Rank: Determinants represent those actions that can affect the future health of the population. For clarity, determinants are divided into four groups: Behaviors, Community and Environment, Public and Health Policies, and Clinical Care. These four groups of measures influence the health outcomes of the population in a state, and improving these inputs will improve outcomes over time. Most measures are actually a combination of activities in all four groups.
Diabetes Rank: Based on percent of adults who responded yes to the question "Have you ever been told by a doctor that you have diabetes?" Does not include pre-diabetes or diabetes during pregnancy.
Smoking Rank: Based on percentage of adults who are current smokers (self-report smoking at least 100 cigarettes in their lifetime and currently smoke).
Obesity Rank: Based on percentage of adults who are obese, with a body mass index (BMI) of 30.0 or higher.
Source: http://www.americashealthrankings.org/
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