MergerWatchNews

Obama Stands By Promise of Contraception Coverage

2012-02-10T18:55:55Z

“Every woman should be in control of the decisions that affect her own health” – President Obama

That’s the ideal that MergerWatch has always fought to achieve in our work with communities facing the imposition of Catholic health care restrictions through hospital consolidations.

So, it was great to hear President Barack Obama affirm that principle today as he announced a new approach to making sure employees of Catholic-affiliated hospitals will get contraceptive coverage under the Affordable Care Act!

The administration’s new approach lifts the proposed requirement that Catholic hospitals, colleges, social services agencies and other religiously-affiliated employers directly provide contraceptive coverage to their employees. Instead, employees of those institutions will get their contraceptive coverage directly from the insurance companies that are providing their employee health coverage – and at no additional cost. Insurance companies recognize that they actually save money by offering contraceptive coverage, because it avoids more costly pregnancy care.

For employees of many religiously-sponsored hospitals and universities, this will mean contraceptive coverage for the first time! The accommodation Obama announced should remove the threatened refusal by these employers to comply with the birth control mandate that had been announced by Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius in late January.

We do have some questions about what will happen at Catholic institutions that self-insure, and we will be watching carefully to make sure the new approach does not inadvertently introduce hurdles and delays into the process of securing contraceptive coverage.

But for now, we are seeing an end to a week that was quite a roller coaster ride, after the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops began an offensive attack against the HHS rule requiring employers - including religiously-affiliated hospitals and university - to provide its employees contraception coverage. On Monday, they threatened to drop employee coverage if forced to comply with the rule. By Thursday, they were calling for the rescinding of the rule entirely, putting contraception coverage without co-pays for millions of women at risk.

The debate drew in everyone with a stake in the matter: Catholic hospitals, women’s health advocates, progressive religious leaders, GOP presidential candidates and members of Congress. The new “work-around” approach removes the requirement that Catholic institutions actually pay for contraceptive coverage for their employees, thus addressing the “religious liberty” objection that had been raised. The preventative women’s health services that are included remain the same: well-women visits, cancer screenings, domestic violence screenings and all forms of birth control devices.

Catholic Healthcare West Cuts Ties with Catholic Church

2012-01-23T17:46:52Z

Catholic Healthcare West (CHW) announced today that it has severed ties with the Catholic Church and changed its name to Dignity Health as part of a governance restructure. The country’s 5th largest health system hopes to sidestep the unique challenges of being a Catholic health system as it seeks to expand its market share.

Louisville Merger Blocked by Governor

2012-01-03T20:40:16Z

On the last day of 2011, Kentucky reproductive health advocates, MergerWatch and our colleagues at the National Women’s Law Center all got a New Year’s present from Gov. Steve Beshear. He announced that he had rejected the proposed hospital merger that would have handed control of the University of Louisville Hospital to Catholic Health Initiatives.

“After exhaustive discussions and research, I have determined that this proposed transaction is not in the best interest of the Commonwealth and therefore should not move forward,” Gov. Beshear said in a statement. “In my opinion the risks to the public outweigh the potential benefits.”

Birth Control Coverage vs Religious Employers

2011-11-04T17:13:11Z

"Why should the conscience of an employer trump the conscience of a woman?" That was the question posed by U.S. Rep. Jan Schakowsky of Illinois on November 2nd at a House subcommittee hearing on demands that all religiously-affiliated employers and insurers be exempted from having to provide contraceptive coverage to their employees.

Anti-choice groups oppose continuation of abortion services in Waterbury, CT, following hospital merger

2011-08-29T15:12:44Z

A proposal in Waterbury, CT, would bring together secular Waterbury Hospital and Catholic Saint Mary's Hospital under a new joint venture with a Texas-based for-profit company, LHP Hospital Group. Even though Saint Mary's would own only 10% of the joint venture, the two secular partners have agreed to have Catholic health restrictions apply.

Louisville Merger Heats Up

2011-07-27T15:25:02Z

In just a few weeks, people in Louisville, KY have truly impressed us with their response to a large hospital merger proposal. The plan would require a public teaching hospital, which is the area’s safety net for low-income patients, to adhere to religious rules that restrict basic health care. As one editorial from the Courier Journal asked:

“How can the state or the city allow this to happen, and to permit millions of dollars of the public's money to be allocated and spent in shadowy backrooms, where Catholic bishops will have more influence than doctors or the people of this city?”

CO Pharmacist Training on Emergency Contraception

2011-06-01T14:42:14Z

MergerWatch is pleased to help fund a pharmacist training series on emergency contraception (EC) in Colorado this month. The training entitled Emergency Contraception: Dispensing Meds & Dispelling Myths will be taught by pharmacist Don Downing (University of Washington), a champion for increased availability of EC in the pharmacy setting. Co-presenting the legal and policy issues on EC unique to Colorado will be representatives from Prevention First Colorado, a coalition of state organizations that support women & girl's reproductive health

Big Victory! AZ Hospital Board Calls off Affiliation with Catholic Health System

2011-04-29T18:00:35Z

MergerWatch is celebrating a big victory this month! A rural community in Arizona will no longer be subjected to restricted care at the only hospital in a 3-county area. Sierra Vista Regional Health Center, an independent hospital in Southeastern Arizona, announced it has ended a controversial trial affiliation with Carondelet Health Network, a Catholic health system.

First Person to Be Treated with Embryonic Stem Cells Speaks Out

2011-04-20T15:28:28Z

Last week 21-year old Timothy J. Atchison, the first person to be treated with an experimental drug made from human embryonic stem cells, was interviewed by the Washington Post. Atchison had become paralyzed from the chest down as a result of a car accident last fall and just weeks later was told by doctors that he fit the criteria for the experimental procedure.