Sponsored by:
Senator JOSEPH F. VITALE
District 19 (Middlesex)
Senator BARBARA BUONO
District 18 (Middlesex)
Co-Sponsored by:
Senator Gill
SYNOPSIS
Expresses support of federal policy that accommodates religious employers regarding contraceptive services required to be covered under federal “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.”
CURRENT VERSION OF TEXT
As introduced.
A Senate Resolution commending the policy announced by President Obama on February 10, 2012 that accommodates religious employers who oppose providing coverage for contraceptive services, as required by the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act.”
Whereas, The federal “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,” Pub.L. 111-148, (the Act) was enacted on March 23, 2010 and was amended by the federal “Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010,” Pub.L. 111-152, enacted on March 30, 2010; and
Whereas, Section 2713 of the Act requires that group health plans and health insurers provide coverage for various preventive health care services without imposing any co-payments, co-insurance, or deductibles; and
Whereas, Section 2713 of the Act identified various preventive health care services that must be provided without the imposition of patient cost-sharing, but the federal Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) was directed to further develop comprehensive guidelines for preventive care and screenings with respect to women; and
Whereas, For purposes of developing these comprehensive guidelines, HHS commissioned the Institute of Medicine (IOM) to identify critical gaps in preventive health care services for women; and
Whereas, In July 2011, IOM recommended that eight preventive health care services be required to be covered under the Act without cost-sharing, including all federally-approved, prescribed contraceptives for women as well as patient education and counseling for all women with reproductive capacity; and
Whereas, In support of its recommendation, IOM noted that almost half of the pregnancies in the United States in 2001 were unintended and that women with unintended pregnancies are more likely to receive delayed or no prenatal care, and to smoke, consume alcohol, be depressed, and experience domestic violence during pregnancy; and
Whereas, IOM further noted that unintended pregnancies increase the risk of preterm births and low birth weights, both of which raise the chances of health problems and developmental disabilities; and
Whereas, In August 2011, HHS adopted guidelines, based on the recommendations of IOM, to require coverage for contraceptive services without cost-sharing for policies with plan years beginning on or after August 1, 2012; and
Whereas, For several years, New Jersey has, along with more than two dozen other states, required insurers to provide coverage for contraceptive services and is among the majority of those states that provide an exemption to religious employers, and HHS sought to similarly accommodate religious employers; and
Whereas, In February 2012, President Obama announced that HHS would implement a policy that will ensure the health of women who work for religious employers that object to providing contraceptive services as part of their health plans by requiring instead that their insurers directly offer the coverage for the contraceptive services free of charge; and
Whereas, New Jersey has for several years recognized the importance of requiring insurers to provide coverage for contraceptive services, and thus it is appropriate to express support for the policy announced on February 10, 2012 that similarly will protect both women’s health and the liberty of religious employers, because important preventive health care services will be provided to the many female employees of religious institutions who practice faiths other than those of their employers, and will further benefit the children of those employees who received appropriate preventive health care; now, therefore,
Be It Resolved by the Senate of the State of New Jersey:
1. The Senate commends the President of the United States for announcing on February 10, 2012 a policy that accommodates religious employers that oppose contraceptive services, which are required to be provided, without cost sharing, pursuant to the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,” Pub.L. 111-148, as amended by the “Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010,” Pub.L.111-152.
2. Duly authenticated copies of this resolution, signed by the President of the Senate and attested by the Secretary of the Senate, shall be transmitted to the President of the United States, the majority and minority leaders of the United States Senate and the United States House of Representatives, each member of Congress elected from the State of New Jersey, and the Secretary of Health and Human Services.
STATEMENT
This resolution expresses the support of the Senate for the policy announced by President Obama on February 10, 2012 that accommodates religious employers with objections to the requirement that coverage for contraceptive services for women be provided, pursuant to the “Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act,” Pub.L. 111-148, as amended by the federal “Health Care and Education Reconciliation Act of 2010,” Pub.L. 111-152. President Obama announced that religious employers with such objections would be exempt from the requirement and that their insurers would directly offer employees these services free of charge.