Catholic Religious

Catholic Religious

Catholic employers balk at mandate to cover prescription contraceptives

A state law that soon will require commercially available health insurance plans to cover prescription contraceptives has several religious employers scrambling to change their coverage for moral reasons.

St. Mary's Hospital in Madison and the Madison Catholic Diocese are among employers who say they will switch from commercial health plans to being self-insured so their premiums do not help fund an insurance benefit they oppose on religious grounds. Self-insured policies are exempt from the mandate.

"It looks like this will probably end up costing us (more money), but it is worth it if we can avoid cooperation with sin," said Brent King, a spokesman for the Madison diocese.

Twenty-six other states also require coverage of prescription birth control, although 15 of them exempt some religious employers, according to the Guttmacher Institute, a national nonprofit organization focused on sexual and reproductive health. Wisconsin has no religious exemption.

The law, approved by legislators this summer as part of the state budget, requires all commercial insurance policies with a prescription drug benefit to cover prescription contraceptives. The law kicks in Jan. 1, although employers can honor their current insurance contracts until they expire.

Supporters say birth control is part of basic health care and that excluding it discriminates against women. Opponents see the mandate as insensitive to their morals and legal rights and say it was inappropriately stuck in the budget at the last minute to minimize debate.

It is unclear how much upheaval in the insurance market it will cause. For starters, the mandate affects only the 30 percent or so of the state population covered by commercial health plans, said Phil Dougherty of the Wisconsin Association of Health Plans.

Self-insured plans cover about 40 percent of the population, he said. The rest are either uninsured or covered by public programs such as Medicare and Medicaid. The latter is for low-income people and already covers prescription birth control.

Lisa Subeck, executive director of NARAL Pro-Choice Wisconsin, which sought the mandate, said a majority of commercially available health plans in Wisconsin already cover prescription birth control. She did not have an exact figure.

The employers that have so far stated their intent to switch coverage are affiliated with the Catholic Church, which teaches that contraception is immoral because it diminishes God's role as the giver of life and interferes with the full giving of each spouse to the other.

The Madison diocese expects its costs to rise when it self-insures in August because it will no longer have the leverage of a large health maintenance organization to negotiate lower prices, King said. The diocese provides insurance for about 640 people.

Two other Catholic dioceses in the state - Green Bay and Milwaukee - also buy commercial health insurance and are examining self-funded plans, said John Huebscher, executive director of the Wisconsin Catholic Conference. The remaining dioceses in La Crosse and Superior already are self-insured.

Steve Van Dinter, a spokesman for St. Mary's Hospital, said Catholic hospitals are required to follow the denomination's ethical and religious directives. Consequently, the hospital will self-insure next year so it does not have to offer prescription birth control to its employees. The hospital insures about 2,100 employees, he said.

Numerous other Catholic hospitals also will move to self-insured plans, including 10 that are part of Ministry Health Care, said Cheryl Zima, the organization's vice president of human resources. Those hospitals include St. Joseph's in Marshfield and St. Michael's in Stevens Point.

Subeck said it is "extremely disappointing" that some employers are choosing to self-insure to avoid the mandate. Many Catholic employers have workers who are secular and perform secular tasks, she said.

"Those folks deserve the same kind of coverage as women everywhere else," she said.

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How do Roman Catholic religious beliefs differ from Southern Baptist religious beliefs?

Well, let's first address the few common Southern Baptist doctrines point-by-point

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Southern_baptist#Theology_and_practice

1) Priesthood of all believers

Roman Catholics would agree except regarding interpretation of Scripture. Although Roman Catholics are certainly permitted to interpret Scripture themselves, they are expected to live according to the interpretation provided by the Roman Catholic Church.

2) Soul competency

Agree - each person is accountable before God.

3) Creeds and confessions

Southern Baptists believe that these can be revised in light of Scripture. Roman Catholics have, in the past, modified the wording of such creeds and confessions (see the history of the current Apostles' Creed), so I guess that there is agreement here.

4) Women in ministry

Agreement. Roman Catholics prohibit women only from priesthood, which is essentially equivalent to a Southern Baptist pastor.

5) Church and state

I am not sure if there is any Roman Catholic doctrine on this point. I know that Roman Catholic *officials* (priests) are not permitted to run for or hold public office. However, I do not believe that Roman Catholics demand a separation of church and state. By that I mean, I believe that the Roman Catholic Church (RCC) would not complain if they were made the state religion in some nation - and it may be tht they still hold such a status in some nations.

6) Missions

Agree.

7) Autonomy of local church.

Disagree. Baptists allow local churches to select their own pastor, and the particular doctrines preached by the pastor are largely unrestricted as long as they agree with the few Southern Baptist doctrines. RCC officials choose pastors for the churches under their care, and all RCC priests must teach doctrine that fully complies with the much more extensive RCC doctrine.

Cooperation

RCC has a similar common missionary program supported by all congregations.

9) Sexuality

Agreement. RCC states that homosexuality itself is not a sin, but that homosexual acts are "mortal" sins. Therefore, a homosexual *lifestyle* is not appropriate for a Roman Catholic.

10) Sanctity of life

Agreement.

Some other differences:

The Southern Baptist Convention (SBC) forms new policies, as the name suggests, in convention. The RCC can do so only with approval from the pope. In other words, the RCC is led by an individual, not a convention.

SBC has only two of what RCC calls "sacraments" - baptism and "the lord's supper". RCC has 7.

SBC baptism is always by a person who confessed their belief in the salvation of Jesus, who is of the "age of accountability" (whatever age THAT is - not specified, only vaguely defined), and is always full-immersion. None of these is a requirement of RCC baptism.

SBC "lord's supper" views that rite as symbolic in nature, and it's frequency is determined by each congregation. The RCC "lord's supper" occurs during every "mass" - meaning very nearly every religious service - and they view the bread and wine as the literal, physical "body and blood of Jesus" (though not as human cell tissue).

In my experience, SBC demands a reliance on Scripture for doctrine - a sort of "sola scriptura". Baptists in general *insist* that a personal interpretation of Scripture is required, though the interpretation of some respected other can be adopted as your own personal interpretation. RCC relies on Scripture, on the traditional RCC doctrines that pre-date the bible, *and* on any "new" doctrines that the RCC establishes. Note that "new" doctrines are claimed to be compatible with (never contradict) both Scripture and traditional doctrines.

I think that covers most of the issues.

Jim, http://www.bible-reviews.com/selector_rc.html

Tradition, Scripture and the Catholic Church