Hobby Lobby - Explain this to me

[TlalocW]

I'm not quite tracking on what Hobby Lobby is trying to do and how the ACA won't let them do that. I'm guessing that the store wants to offer health care plans that don't include the contraception they (wrongly) object to? Does the ACA tell them they have to, or does the ACA offer a route around/outside Hobby Lobby for women to get the verboten contraception, and they don't like that?

I get the bigger picture about whether companies should have religious rights, but the actual nitty-gritty of what Hobby Lobby (see what I did there?) is trying to do contraception-wise escape me.

TlalocW

[PoliticAverse]

1. The ACA requires any plan they offer to include contraception. The only way out for them

under the current law's interpretation is to not offer health insurance to their employees and pay a tax/fine instead.

[Puzzledtraveller]

2. The law says they have to

only because all plans have to meet specific standards of coverage. Hobby Lobby could drop all their employees below full time and send them out to the exchanges, completely droppinf their employee sponsored health insurance.

[okaawhatever]

9. They don't need to drop them below full time. They could just pay the fine. nt

[rbixby]

14. Who would work there then?

If they say "Oh you're on your own for after-tax health coverage". I guess they want to have their cake and eat it too.

[warrior1]

3. I believe it's only for women

So I would say that this is a discrimination case.

BOYCOTT

[tk2kewl]

4. they are trying to be dicks

and think they should be allowed to be dicks

[Hoyt]

5. That's pretty much it.

[tk2kewl]

6. oh... and they think that because they're the ones with the money

they are ENTITLED to be dicks

[LuvNewcastle]

7. I think they're just trying to find a way out of the mandate.

All this talk about birth control is just a smokescreen.

[PoliticAverse]

8. They are already providing health insurance to their employees, it's about whether they have

to cover contraception as part of their health insurance.

[malaise]

10. No employer has the right to be the conscience of its employees

Of that I am 100% sure

[Nuclear Unicorn]

11. When has HL ever told its employees they're not allowed to use contraception?

[otohara]

12. All Their Junk Comes From The Country

who for decades had a one child law.
Fucking hypocrites.

Maybe by lifting the ban to two children will help fill their many ghost cities.

[TlalocW]

13. Not really seeing a good explanation of what they're trying to do

I get that they're being dicks and trying to control what women can do, but just telling me they're dicks doesn't help.

I guess I'm also keeping in mind what republicans did last year - trying to embarrass democrats by putting up for a vote a bill that said that congressional employees had to enroll under the ACA. Now, they already had health insurance so the ACA didn't apply to them, but it would have looked bad for the democrats to vote against it because it would be seen as saying, "The ACA isn't good enough for us," but the democrats called the republican bluff and said okay. A consequence of that is that under the old insurance system, their health care couldn't cover abortion in any form or amount, but now signing up for the ACA, only 3 health plans out of over 100 available to them didn't cover abortion.

So what I'm saying is that I'm pretty sure it would be within their rights to choose health care plans that only offer the contraception they like, but if there are no plans out there that meet their requirement then it should be tough shit for Hobby Lobby. But is that the case? Or is there a requirement in the ACA that at a minimum, healthcare for women must cover something they don't like? I thought I read something about how they were wanting to somehow control what contraceptions an employee used through if the employee went around what they offered and signed up for additional healthcare with the ACA?

So I'm confused on what the logistics of why they're being dicks. Not that they're being dicks.

TlalocW