Copyright 1999 The Seattle Times Company
The
Seattle Times
February 23, 1999, Tuesday Final Edition
SECTION: LOCAL NEWS; Pg. B1
LENGTH: 807 words
HEADLINE:
LANGUAGE IRONED OUT FOR CONTRACEPTIVES
BYLINE: MARSHA
KING; SEATTLE TIMES STAFF REPORTER
BODY:
A CLAUSE has been added to a Senate bill that would
protect the rights of religious employers who don't want to buy health insurance
that covers birth control.
Catholic organizations and Planned
Parenthood have negotiated a religious exemption to proposed legislation
requiring all state-regulated insurance plans pay for contraceptives, just as
they do for other prescription drugs. The so-called "conscience clause" protects
the rights of religious employers, such as a Catholic archdiocese, who for
reasons of religion or conscience don't want to buy health insurance that covers
birth control.
Instead, women would be given the right to purchase
coverage for contraception directly from their employer's insurer. It's
estimated the added premium would be about $ 1.50 a month.
Ironing out
the conscience-clause language was viewed by some as essential to keeping the
legislation alive, said Melinda Percich, president of the Washington State
Council on Family Planning.
If the bill passes, Washington would become
the second state, after Maryland, to mandate such contraception coverage.
Planned Parenthood, the Sisters of Providence Health System and the
Washington State Catholic Conference, which represents the state's three
bishops, negotiated the provision. Women's groups and the American Civil
Liberties Union also participated.
The clause addresses some of the most
controversial topics within the U.S. Catholic Church: birth control, women's
role in society and social justice.
"There is a healthy debate within
the Catholic community nationwide about what is the lesser evil: birth control
or an unwanted pregnancy that may lead to an abortion," said a female
administrator for a local Catholic organization who asked that her name not be
used.
That debate can play out in complicated ways.
For example,
the Washington State Catholic Conference opposes any form of birth control other
than natural family planning. The Sisters of Providence officially defer to the
bishops and the teachings of the Catholic Church on birth control.
However, the Sisters also champion universal access to health care and
don't believe in interfering with the physician-patient relationship.
So
when their Providence Health Plan covers prescription drugs, it chooses not to
question doctors about what drugs are prescribed, or why. For all practical
purposes, that means most Providence enrollees can obtain oral contraceptives
through their plan.
Providence Health Plan in Washington state recently
was sold to Regence Blue Shield. The plan covered about 75,000 people.
Providence still runs the plan in Oregon and extends coverage to a small number
of people in Southwest Washington.
Conscience clauses are not new. The
same groups developed similar provisions related to abortion services in the
state's Basic Health Plan and the Model Plan, which is sold by private carriers.
In the Senate version of the bill, Senate Bill 5512, any
health-care provider, religiously sponsored health-insurance carrier or
health-care facility could opt out of providing contraceptive
coverage.
Religious organizations opposed to birth control also
could refuse to pay for such coverage in group plans for its workers.
At
the same time, employees of those organizations could still directly purchase
contraception coverage. The extra cost would be the employee's responsibility,
but could not exceed what it would have cost them in the group plan.
Religiously sponsored health carriers, such as the Providence Health
Plan, must provide written notice to enrollees listing the contraceptive
services they refuse to cover. They also must tell its clients how and where
they can receive such services.
About 30 percent of the state's
health-care plans now cover contraceptives, compared to 77 percent that cover
abortion, according to a survey of reproductive health-care coverage by the
state's Office of the Insurance Commissioner.
Research also has found
women of reproductive age spend nearly 70 percent more on health care than men,
with reproductive health care accounting for much of the difference.
"Many insurance companies cover Viagra (the male impotence treatment)
but they don't cover contraception for women," said Sen. Jeri Costa,
D-Marysville, the bill's sponsor.
Insurance companies don't like
mandated benefits. Some critics say the cost of such extra coverage, estimated
at about $ 17 per person annually, is too high.
The Senate bill passed
out of the Health and Long Term Care Committee last week. The House Health Care
Committee held a hearing on its version of the bill Friday. It's expected the
same "conscience-clause" language eventually will be part of the House bill.
Marsha King's phone message number is 206-464-2232. Her e-mail
address is: mking@seattletimes.com
LANGUAGE: ENGLISH
LOAD-DATE: February 24, 1999 
