Given the headline news over the past few months surrounding Hobby Lobby, Wheaton College and the issue of providing contraception coverage, brokers may be wondering how their self-funded clients fit into the puzzle. While there is no simple answer and clarification could still be far away, an explanation of how these recent events currently affect self-insured employers and third-party administrators might shed some light on the situation.
When the Department of Health and Human Services issued regulations allowing certain religious nonprofits to opt out of providing contraception coverage, it provided that these entities could instruct their insurance companies, or TPAs for self-funded employers, to provide and pay for the coverage directly. The Supreme Court expanded this universe in July, when it ruled that closely held for-profit businesses could also cite religious objections to avoid providing contraception coverage. The problem, however, is that TPAs are not insurance companies, and they also arent getting reimbursed, especially as the number of organizations objecting to contraception coverage on religious grounds continues to grow.
