For nearly a week, right wing extremists in both the Catholic Church and the media, have been screaming about a policy that has been discussed in political circles since shortly after the Affordable Care Act - the ACA - was passed last year. In January, HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced that the Obama Administration was going to go ahead and implement the policy of equitable insurance coverage, as part of the continuing rollout of the ACA.
The policy had been known about for some time before it began being implemented. Parts of the policy have actually been in place for over a decade, and were put in place during the Bush years. No religious groups or media organizations had made any significant noise about it, even when the Obama Administration rolled out its part of the policy. That would lead most sane, honest people to think there was no real trouble with the issue.
Legally and ethically, there still isn't - though the screams and tantrums coming from the extremist right may have made you think otherwise.
The claims of people from the screaming radio hatemongers to the members of the Council of Catholic Bishops - even some candidates for the President - have been saying that the equitable insurance coverage clause will force Catholic hospitals to pay for birth control and abortions. Some of those setting their hair on fire have even been saying this will be done with taxpayer dollars in Catholic medical institutions.
The truth is much more boring.
Those who've been stirring up trouble on the contraception and insurance issue say the Obama Administration can't make religious organizations include coverage for birth control... but twenty-eight states already do. Most Americans are already paying for birth control, whether they like it or not - though most Americans do actually like it.
In fact, as Steve Benen recently pointed out, most Americans - including most Catholics - believe that all employers should be required to provide their employees with health care that covers contraception and birth control at no cost to the patient.
That's what the equitable insurance coverage clause does.
It says that IF a private employer is going to provide health insurance for their employees, ALL policies - including those at the most basic level - must provide the OPTION of coverage for birth control and other women's health options, in the same way they are already required to provide the OPTION for men's health issues like Erectile Dysfunction.
In short, the insurance policies an employer chooses must give the choice to cover both the little blue pill for him, and the little pink pills for her.
There are those who are saying the Obama administration - through the equitable insurance coverage clause - is taking away the freedom of choice of businesses to choose not to provide insurance, or to provide a less-than-adequate basic level of health insurance. That the ACA, and many states' insurance laws already give states and the Federal government the right to fine an employer if they don't provide certain basic levels of health care insurance seems to escape those who are protesting this decision.
Just like with any law that benefits the greater public good, individuals and businesses alike already have the freedom to violate the law if they choose - so long as they're willing to pay the penalty for doing so.
The decision to roll out the equitable insurance coverage clause was not a decision the White House made lightly - and our sources say the Administration is NOT likely to change this policy in any serious way, no matter how much trouble the Catholic Church stirs up. That the administration has said in public it will try and "resolve the controversy" and "ease the ire" regarding this issue, even if they don't change the policy, isn't hypocrisy - it's politics.
In this case, it's the politics of the Obama Administration attempting to explain the new rules, while applying the "General Welfare" clause of the Constitution.
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