State attorney general Anne Lopez has joined a coalition of 22 state attorneys general in supporting the Biden administration’s proposal to do away with Trump-era rules that allowed employers to opt out of providing contraceptive coverage under the Affordable Care Act due to moral or religious objections.
What You Need To Know
President Barack Obama signed the ACA into law In 2010, with a mandate requiring all employers and sponsors of health plans to cover the cost of preventive services necessary for women’s health, including contraceptive services added a year later
In 2017, the Trump administration issued interim final rules expanding exemption eligibility for employers who objected to contraceptive coverage on moral or religious grounds
In January, Pres. Joe Biden announced his intention to rescind the moral exemption and create an “individual contraceptive arrangement,” through which people enrolled in health plans via an employer or other third party that objects to contraceptive coverage to bypass that entity to obtain free coverage
Lopez and her fellow attorneys general transmitted a letter to U.S. Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra, U.S. Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen, and Acting U.S. Labor Secretary Julie Su supporting the proposed actions and further encouraging the administration to narrow the religious exemption and improve the individual contraceptive arrangement
