HHS contraceptive-coverage mandate foes flock to Supreme Court

Nonprofit religious groups have filed at least five petitions asking the U.S. Supreme Court to free them from a U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) regulation requiring them to notify HHS if they have decided not to cover contraceptive services.

Marcia Coyle has covered the petitions in an article in The National Law Journal, a publication owned by ALM, the parent company of LifeHealthPro.

Kathleen Sebelius, the former HHS secretary, outraged many religious groups in 2012, when she adopted an Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) recommendation to put birth control benefits in the basic package of preventive services. The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (PPACA) requires all PPACA-compliant major medical policies, and most employer-sponsored group plans, to cover the preventive services package without imposing deductibles or other cost-sharing requirements on the patients.