Moments ago, the Department of Health and Human Services released new rules intended to “fix” the assault on religious liberty posed by the HHS Mandate.
No surprise, the “fix” is largely an accounting gimmick that changes very little.
First, here is what the new proposed rules did NOT change:
Conscience-minded business owners with more than 50 employees will continue to be forced to pay for coverage for contraceptives, abortion-inducing drugs, and sterilization procedures. This includes Michigan businessman John Kennedy and Missouri businessman Frank O’Brien, both of whom are represented and defended by our CatholicVote.org Legal Defense Fund.
Pro-life organizations, schools or charities which are not explicitly religious will still be forced to pay for abortion inducing drugs if they have more than 50 employees.
The new rules provide NO options for private individuals who seek insurance coverage that respects their conscience.
So what changed?
Some religious nonprofits (schools, hospitals, and charities) are being told they can now “opt out” of the exemption – but in name only. The proposal will allow some of our Catholic colleges, hospitals, and charities to provide coverage that exempts these immoral medicines – BUT – the same insurance company will step in and provide the objectionable services to their employees for free.
By raising a religious objection, some faith-based institutions can now avoid directly paying the insurance company for objectionable medicines and procedures – yet the premiums they pay will go straight to an insurance company that will create a separate policy that will cover the very things these religious employers believe are wrong.
Likewise, self-insured plans like those used by many dioceses and large faith-based groups will be forced to cover their eyes while their plan “Administrator” does the same thing.
What a sham.
We all know that somebody has to pay for this coverage. Insurance companies will inevitably absorb these costs and pass them along to everyone they insure (including you!) by raising the costs of all plans. Or the federal government will step in and subsidize these costs with taxpayer money. Today's announcement simply means that religious organizations will end up paying for these costs indirectly along with the rest of us.
In other words, our brazen federal government continues to behave as if they get to decide who has a First Amendment right to religious liberty.
And you won't be surprised by this, but the Washington Post is now reporting that our Catholic Bishops were not consulted about this latest round of changes.
…and Planned Parenthood and the Big Abortion industry are happy.
Enough said.
Obama and Sebelius are backpedaling and looking for cover. But we aren’t fooled by this phony accommodation.
Stay tuned. This fight is far from over.
Brian
P.S. You can read the entire 80-page proposed new HHS rules here:
http://email.vervemail.com/ct/28887496:8113793995:m:1:416169703:0ABE2C29949B8D0B8458A67FD85CF020:r
