The Obama administration announced last week that most healthcare plans will be required to cover birth control without charging co-pays or deductibles starting August 1. According to The Hill, the final regulation retains the approach federal health officials proposed last year, language that raised strong opposition from religious groups and conservatives.
Though churches, synagogues and other houses of worship are exempt, faith-affiliated hospitals and universities only get a one-year delay and must comply by August 1, 2013.
“This ruling forces religious organizations to violate the fundamental tenets of their faith, or stop offering health insurance coverage to their employees,” said the Republican Policy Committee. “Time will tell whether those institutions choose the former or the latter course — but neither option should be necessary, if the administration had not taken such an unbending approach to appease its liberal base.”
Source: The Hill