Hobby Lobby and Corporate Person-hood
The Supreme Court ruled on Monday, in the Hobby Lobby case, that requiring family-owned corporations to pay for insurance coverage for contraception under the ACA violated a federal law protecting religious freedom. This essentially means that some corporations now have religious rights. Although the majority tried to make this ruling as narrow as possible, it does open the door to future suits claiming exemption from other laws that are deemed by the owners of closely held corporations to infringe on the free exercise of their religion. An initial concern for insurance issuers is whether religious exceptions will proliferate, requiring an increase in benefit design variation. More benefit options means increased operating costs, and more difficult premium calculations.
Beyond this, the logic that a family-owned corporation is indistinguishable from its owners when it comes to religious rights may poke holes in the corporate veil in other ways. Corporations are created by state governments to protect their owners from personal liability. They are fictitious persons, endowed by their creator (the state) with certain specific rights and privileges. The tendency of this Supreme Court to see corporations as extensions of their owners, or of their donors in the Citizens United case, seems to violate this notion of limited rights as well as limited liability, all as determined by state incorporation law. If corporations enjoy freedom of speech and protecting under the federal Religious Freedom Restoration Act, are they also people for purposes of voting and holding public office? Isn’t this train of thought leading into some weird and nonsensical places?
Resources
On Wednesday, July 23, join GHG to discuss the 2015 Medicare Advantage Marketing guidelines and how to plan for the upcoming changes. Register now >>
If you’ve just submitted your HEDIS data, now is the time to analyze that data for gaps and identify interventions for your health plans, providers and members. On July 17 join John Gorman, Executive Chairman at GHG, Jane Scott, Senior Vice President of Clinical Services and Anita McCreavy, Senior Consultant, for a webinar on HEDIS reporting, the new measures and what’s next. Register now >>