Health insurance will cover contraceptives

WASHINGTON — The Obama administration said Friday that health insurance plans must cover contraceptives for women without charge, and it rejected a broad exemption sought by the Roman Catholic Church for insurance provided to employees of Catholic hospitals, colleges and charities.

But the administration said it would give some employers affiliated with churches an extra year to comply, meaning that coverage would not begin for their employees until well after the 2012 elections.

Church leaders had personally appealed to President Barack Obama to grant the exemption, and he made the final decision on the issue after hearing all points of view, administration officials said.

In issuing the rule Friday, Kathleen Sebelius, the secretary of health and human services, said it “strikes the appropriate balance between respecting religious freedom and increasing access to important preventive services.”

“This rule will provide women with greater access to contraception by requiring coverage and by prohibiting cost-sharing,” Sebelius said.

The rule includes an exemption for certain religious employers, but the exemption is so narrow that some church groups said it was almost meaningless.

A religious employer cannot qualify for the exemption if it employs or serves large numbers of people of different faiths, as many Catholic hospitals, universities and social service agencies do.

Most insurers will have to comply by Aug. 1, but the administration said it would give these nonprofit churchaffiliated employers an extra year to come into compliance.

“This additional year will allow these organizations more time and flexibility to adapt to this new rule,” Sebelius said.

The delay could also put off any court test of the rule. Last week, the Supreme Court, in an unrelated case, substantially broadened an exemption under the First Amendment that protects religious institutions from employment- discrimination suits brought by employees with ministerial duties.

The 2010 health care law says insurers must cover “preventive health services” and cannot charge for them.

The new rule interprets this mandate. It requires coverage of the full range of contraceptive methods approved by the Food and Drug Administration without charging a deductible or a co -payment.