Should Catholic Affiliated Employers Provide Family Planning Medical Coverage?

[KathleenElsie]

CHARLOTTE, NC, February 15, 2008 (LifeSiteNews.com) - Belmont Abbey College in North Carolina …

President William Thierfelder said, “As a Roman Catholic institution, Belmont Abbey College is not able to and will not offer nor subsidize medical services that contradict the clear teaching of the Catholic Church. There was no other course of action possible if we were to operate in fidelity to our mission and to our identity as a Catholic college.”

In a letter to staff and faculty, Thierfeder answered the question: Were any faculty, staff or committees consulted on this change? He said, “No. The teaching of the Catholic Church on this moral issue is clear. The responsibility of the College as a Catholic College sponsored by the monks of Belmont Abbey to follow Church teaching is equally clear. There was no other course of action possible if we were to operate in fidelity to our mission and to our identity as a Catholic College. Therefore, consultation was not an option. However, Abbot Placid and I have publicly and repeatedly expressed a willingness to discuss the matter at any time with anyone who would like to talk to us.”
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lifesite.net/ldn/2008/feb/08021509.html

 

[KathleenElsie]

A faith based organization should never be forced to provide things that go against their beliefs. So I applaud those that stand behind their beliefs.

As a side note I wonder what eliminated these services do to the rate charged by the insurance industry?

 

[KathleenElsie]

In order to stay Catholic should they only hire Catholics for ALL positions?

 

[Dale_M]

In order to stay Catholic should they only hire Catholics for ALL positions?

I don’t think that is necessary, but perhaps potential employees should agree Church teaching with regard to employment and employment benefits.

I’m not sure that the eight employees at Belmont Abbey College who objected to the insurance change are all (if any are) non-Catholic. Just because a person is Catholic doesn’t mean they accept all Church teaching.

 

[stinkcat_14]

I wonder what the practical significance of this is going to be? While in some cases, such as sterilization it will clearly be binding, in other cases it may be less clear. For example, I am sure that the insurance covers general gynecological visits, so if a woman goes in for BCPs, she could have the doctor code it as a general visit and it would probably slip through.

 

[BioCatholic]

I wonder what the practical significance of this is going to be? While in some cases, such as sterilization it will clearly be binding, in other cases it may be less clear. For example, I am sure that the insurance covers general gynecological visits, so if a woman goes in for BCPs, she could have the doctor code it as a general visit and it would probably slip through.

There are 3 common skirt arounds to healthcare that doesn’t cover contraception.

1. the OBGY or physician gives “sample” birth control packets to the woman, or calls in a script to Wal-Mart for the BC patch, which can be as little as 6$ a month. Barr, Wyeth distribute millions and millions of these so women can find the type that suits them best, and for poorer women who come to like them and will continue to buy them when their financial situation becomes better. It’s a masterful technique. The price of the pills is free, hence the reason of the visit can be classified as “general”.
2. the OBGYN writes a script for “menstrual” reasons, which IS covered since hormonal pills then are considered a TREATMENT.
3. the woman buys supplemental insurance from the same company for a fraction of the price to add on to her work plan. The supplemental plan is billed instead of the work plan, but in reality having the work plan drastically reduces the cost of adding supplemental insurance.

You can’t win this battle. Most OBGYNs will give out sample packs if the woman tells then that their insurance won’t cover it. And unless the woman signs a waiver to release the contents of their visits, the employer won’t EVER know the “real” reason she went to the Dr, or what she got.

You’d have to mandate that a Dr. would comply with the rules of the employee’s healthcare plan in order to get payment, to prevent a Dr. from giving sample packs or calling in a dirt-cheap Wal-Mart script too.

Heck, a Dr. can write a script for BC pills, give sample packs, and then every 4 months a woman can hop on down to the county Health Dept for a checkup, where they will give her discount BC pills with the original script.