Protect Women's Health From Corporate Interference Act of 2014 - Affirms requirements, notwithstanding the Religious Freedom Restoration Act of 1993, that: (1) an employer that establishes or maintains a group health plan for its employees must provide coverage of a specific item or service for the employees or their dependents where the coverage is required under federal provisions or regulations pursuant to those provisions; and (2) group health plans sponsored by an employer or employee organization, and any health insurance coverage, must provide coverage required under the Public Health Service Act, including preventive health services.
Authorizes the Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services (HHS), and the Treasury to modify regulations concerning coverage of contraceptive services by group health plans of religious employers consistent with the purposes and findings (regarding coverage of birth control services and the Supreme Court decisions in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. and Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp. v. Burwell) of this Act.
[Congressional Bills 113th Congress]
[From the U.S. Government Publishing Office]
[H.R. 5051 Introduced in House (IH)]
113th CONGRESS
2d Session
H. R. 5051
To ensure that employers cannot interfere in their employees' birth
control and other health care decisions.
_______________________________________________________________________
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES
July 9, 2014
Ms. Slaughter (for herself, Ms. DeGette, Mr. Nadler, Mr. Bera of
California, Mr. Bishop of New York, Mr. Blumenauer, Ms. Bonamici, Mr.
Brady of Pennsylvania, Mr. Braley of Iowa, Ms. Brownley of California,
Mrs. Capps, Ms. Castor of Florida, Ms. Chu, Mr. Cicilline, Ms. Clark of
Massachusetts, Ms. Clarke of New York, Mr. Clay, Mr. Cohen, Mr.
Connolly, Mr. Conyers, Mr. Cummings, Mr. Danny K. Davis of Illinois,
Mr. DeFazio, Ms. DeLauro, Ms. DelBene, Mr. Doggett, Ms. Duckworth, Ms.
Edwards, Mr. Ellison, Ms. Esty, Mr. Farr, Mr. Fattah, Ms. Frankel of
Florida, Ms. Fudge, Mr. Grayson, Ms. Hahn, Mr. Hastings of Florida, Mr.
Honda, Mr. Hoyer, Mr. Huffman, Mr. Israel, Ms. Jackson Lee, Ms. Eddie
Bernice Johnson of Texas, Mr. Johnson of Georgia, Mr. Keating, Mr.
Kennedy, Mr. Kilmer, Mrs. Kirkpatrick, Ms. Kuster, Ms. Lee of
California, Mr. Levin, Mr. Lewis, Ms. Lofgren, Mr. Lowenthal, Mrs.
Lowey, Mr. Ben Ray Lujan of New Mexico, Ms. Michelle Lujan Grisham of
New Mexico, Mr. Maffei, Mrs. Carolyn B. Maloney of New York, Ms.
Matsui, Mrs. McCarthy of New York, Ms. McCollum, Mr. McDermott, Mr.
McGovern, Ms. Meng, Mr. Michaud, Mr. George Miller of California, Ms.
Moore, Mr. Moran, Mr. Murphy of Florida, Ms. Norton, Mr. Pallone, Ms.
Pelosi, Mr. Perlmutter, Mr. Peters of Michigan, Mr. Peters of
California, Ms. Pingree of Maine, Mr. Pocan, Mr. Polis, Mr. Price of
North Carolina, Mr. Quigley, Mr. Rangel, Ms. Roybal-Allard, Mr. Ruiz,
Mr. Ryan of Ohio, Ms. Linda T. Sanchez of California, Mr. Sarbanes, Ms.
Schakowsky, Mr. Schiff, Mr. Schneider, Ms. Schwartz, Mr. Scott of
Virginia, Ms. Shea-Porter, Mr. Sires, Mr. Smith of Washington, Ms.
Speier, Mr. Swalwell of California, Mr. Takano, Mr. Thompson of
California, Mr. Tierney, Ms. Titus, Mr. Tonko, Ms. Tsongas, Mr. Van
Hollen, Ms. Wasserman Schultz, Mr. Waxman, Mr. Welch, Ms. Wilson of
Florida, Mr. Yarmuth, Ms. Bass, Ms. Brown of Florida, Mr. Butterfield,
Mr. Cleaver, Mr. Crowley, Ms. Eshoo, Mr. Gene Green of Texas, Mr.
Grijalva, Mr. Gutierrez, Mr. Kildee, Mrs. Napolitano, Mr. Pastor of
Arizona, Mr. Payne, Mr. Veasey, Ms. Waters, Mr. McNerney, Mr. Higgins,
Ms. Sinema, Mr. Horsford, and Mr. Becerra) introduced the following
bill; which was referred to the Committee on Education and the
Workforce, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce and
Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the
Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall
within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned
_______________________________________________________________________
A BILL
To ensure that employers cannot interfere in their employees' birth
control and other health care decisions.
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representatives of the
United States of America in Congress assembled,
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE.
This Act may be cited as the ``Protect Women's Health From
Corporate Interference Act of 2014''.
SEC. 2. PURPOSE.
The purpose of this Act is to ensure that employers that provide
health benefits to their employees cannot deny any specific health
benefits, including contraception coverage, to any of their employees
or the covered dependents of such employees entitled by Federal law to
receive such coverage.
SEC. 3. FINDINGS.
Congress finds as follows:
(1) Access to the full range of health benefits and
preventive services, as guaranteed under Federal law or through
Federal regulations, provides all Americans with the
opportunity to lead healthier and more productive lives.
(2) Birth control is a critical health care service for
women. Ninety-nine percent of sexually active women use birth
control at least once in their lifetimes, and the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention declared it one of the Ten Great
Public Health Achievements of the 20th Century. While the most
common reason women use contraception is to prevent pregnancy,
58 percent of oral contraceptive users cite noncontraceptive
health benefits as reasons for using the method. Fourteen
percent of birth control pill users, more than 1,500,000 women,
rely on birth control pills for noncontraceptive purposes only.
(3) In addition to providing health benefits for women,
access to birth control has been directly connected to women's
economic success and ability to participate in society equally.
Women with access to birth control are more likely to have
higher educational achievement and career achievement, and to
be paid higher wages.
(4) The independent, nonprofit Institute of Medicine
recommends, as part of its recommended preventive health
measures, that women's preventive health be covered by health
plans with no cost-sharing to promote optimal health of women.
The Institute of Medicine noted that the contraceptive methods
recommendation was one of the most important recommendations
for women.
(5) Affordability has long been a barrier to women being
able to use birth control and other preventive health services
effectively. A national survey of women who were currently
using some form of contraception found that one-third would
switch to a different method of contraception if they did not
have to worry about cost. Women citing cost concerns were twice
as likely as other women to rely on less effective methods of
contraception.
(6) Three separate studies have found that lack of health
coverage is significantly associated with reduced use of
prescription contraceptives.
(7) Cost-sharing requirements can dramatically reduce the
use of preventive health care measures, particularly among
lower-income women. Studies have shown that eliminating cost-
sharing for the most effective forms of contraception
(intrauterine devices, implants, and injectables) leads to
sizable increases in the use of these methods.
(8) The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Public
Law 111-148) sought to remove the barrier to care by requiring
all new health plans to cover recommended preventive services
without cost-sharing, which include women's preventative
services. These services include all methods of contraception
and sterilization approved by the Food and Drug Administration
and related education and counseling, as prescribed by a health
care provider.
(9) The contraceptive coverage provision has been a success
in increasing access to this critical health service for women.
As of 2013, 47,000,000 women were covered by this requirement.
Women have saved $483,000,000 in out-of-pocket costs for oral
contraceptives with no copayments in 2013 compared to 2012.
(10) The Journal of the American Medical Association
reports that 7 out of 10 people in the United States support
coverage of contraception, with significantly higher support
among women, Hispanic Americans, and Black Americans.
(11) An estimated 76,000,000 people in the United States,
including 30,000,000 women, are newly eligible for expanded
preventive services coverage under the Patient Protection and
Affordable Care Act. A total of 48,500,000 women are estimated
to benefit from preventive services coverage without cost-
sharing.
(12) The most appropriate method of contraception varies
according to each individual woman's needs and medical history.
Women may have medical contraindications and thus not be able
to use certain types of contraceptive methods. It is therefore
vital that the full range of contraceptive methods approved by
the Food and Drug Administration be available in order to
ensure that each woman, in consultation with her medical
provider, can make appropriate decisions about her health care.
(13) Covering proven preventative services like
contraception lowers health care spending as it improves
health. The Federal Government experienced no increase in costs
at all after it began covering contraceptives for Federal
employees. A study by the National Business Group on Health
estimated that it costs employers 15 to 17 percent more to not
provide contraceptive coverage in employee health plans,
accounting for the employer's direct medical costs of pregnancy
and indirect costs related to employee absence and reduced
productivity.
(14) Dozens of cases have been filed in Federal court by
employers that want to take this benefit away from their
employees and the covered dependents of such employees.
(15) On June 30, 2014, the Supreme Court held, in Burwell
v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. and Conestoga Wood Specialties
Corp. v. Burwell, that some for-profit corporations can take
away the birth control coverage guaranteed to their employees
and the covered dependents of such employees through their
group health plan.
(16) In a dissent in those cases, Justice Ruth Bader
Ginsburg states that in this ``decision of startling breadth .
. . the exemption sought by Hobby Lobby and Conestoga . . .
would deny legions of women who do not hold their employers'
beliefs access to contraceptive coverage that the ACA would
otherwise secure.'' Justice Ginsburg also notes that the
decision opens up the door to religiously grounded employer
objections to a whole host of health care services like ``blood
transfusions . . .. antidepressants . . . medications derived
from pigs, including anesthesia . . . and vaccinations.''.
(17) The Supreme Court's decision in those cases allows
employers, that otherwise provide coverage of preventive health
services, to deny their employees and the covered dependents of
such employees contraceptive coverage and to treat a critical
women's health service differently than other comparable
services. Legislation is needed to clarify that employers may
not discriminate against their employees and dependents.
(18) It is imperative that Congress act to reinstate
contraception coverage and to protect employees and the covered
dependents of such employees from other attempts to take away
coverage for other health benefits to which such employees and
dependents are entitled under Federal law.
SEC. 4. ENSURING COVERAGE OF SPECIFIC BENEFITS.
(a) In General.--An employer that establishes or maintains a group
health plan for its employees (and any covered dependents of such
employees) shall not deny coverage of a specific health care item or
service with respect to such employees (or dependents) where the
coverage of such item or service is required under any provision of
Federal law or the regulations promulgated thereunder. A group health
plan, as defined in section 733(a) of the Employee Retirement Income
Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1191b(a)), sponsored by an employer,
employee organization, or both, and any health insurance coverage, as
defined in section 2791(b) of the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C.
300gg-91) is required to provide coverage required under the Public
Health Service Act, including section 2713 of such Act (42 U.S.C.
300gg-13), in addition to other applicable requirements.
(b) Application.--Subsection (a) shall apply notwithstanding any
other provision of Federal law, including Public Law 103-141.
(c) Regulations.--The regulations contained in sections 54.9815-
2713A of title 26, 2590.715-2713A of title 29, and 147.131 of title 45,
Code of Federal Regulations, shall apply with respect to this section.
The Departments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and the Treasury
may modify such regulations consistent with the purpose and findings of
this Act.
(d) Enforcement.--The provisions of this Act shall apply to plan
sponsors, group health plans, and health insurance issuers as if
enacted in the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29
U.S.C. 1001 et seq.), the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 201 et
seq.), and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. Any failure by a plan
sponsor, group health plan, or health insurance issuer to comply with
the provisions of this Act shall be subject to enforcement through part
5 of subtitle B of title I of the Employee Retirement Income Security
Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), section 2723 of the Public Health
Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300gg-22), and section 4980D of the Internal
Revenue Code of 1986.
<all>
Introduced in House
Introduced in House
Referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and in addition to the Committees on Energy and Commerce, and Ways and Means, for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the committee concerned.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Health.
Referred to the Subcommittee on Health, Employment, Labor, and Pensions.
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