October 28, 2011

New regulations won’t affect archdiocesan insurance in the short term, Isakson says

By Sean Gallagher

The health care insurance that the archdiocese offers its employees should not in the short-term be affected by proposed regulations drafted by the federal government’s Health and Human Services Department that has drawn the criticism of Catholic leaders across the country in recent months, according to Edward Isakson, archdiocesan human resources director.

Those regulations will require new insurance policies to provide contraceptives and sterilization procedures at no cost.

According to the regulations that, if unchanged, will go into effect next August, religious employers will only be exempt from the regulations if their primary purpose is to pass on their religious beliefs, they primarily employ only people of that faith, serve people of that faith and qualify as a non-profit organization, according to the Internal Revenue Service.

The medical insurance currently offered by the archdiocese, however, is virtually unchanged from the policy put in place in 2007. Therefore, said Isakson, it is not affected by the proposed regulations and will be grandfathered in.

“We believe that, for the next several years, there’s a good probability that we can keep a plan that looks much the same as it does right now,” Isakson said.

That might not be the case, however, if changes aren’t made to the proposed regulations either legislatively, in the courts or by the administration of President Barack Obama that crafted them.

“We have a limitation on changes that we can make,” Isakson said. “We can make cost-of-living adjustments to our deductibles, and out-of-pocket maximums.

“My hope is that we will have a period of years where we can stay grandfathered that will allow these legal issues to get worked out.” †

 

Related story: Archdiocesan employee health plan saves lives and dollars

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