Dive Brief:

• The Second Circuit federal court of appeals reversed the lower decision in Catholic Health Care System v. Burwell and upheld the religious organization accommodation for those that object to providing contraceptive coverage, according to Health Affairs.
• The court “held that it was up to the court, and not to the plaintiffs, to determine whether the accommodation substantially burdened the plaintiffs’ religious beliefs within the terms of the Religious Freedom Restoration Act (RFRA).”
• The accommodation allows religious organizations to notify the government of their objection to providing contraceptive coverage, and the government will require the insurer that covers that organization’s employees to provide coverage without any further involvement of the organization. 

Dive Insight:

If the organization participates in a church plan, as in this case, the government can’t require the third-party administrator to offer coverage, but it does “offer financial incentives to do so,” according to Health Affairs.

The court declared that the notification requirement “did not impose a substantial burden” on the plaintiff’s religious beliefs. It joins the Third, Fifth, Sixth, Seventh, Tenth, and D.C. Circuits in upholding the contraceptive accommodation. The accommodation will then most likely remain in place, unless the Supreme Court takes up the case.