CHLPI Files Supreme Court Amicus Brief Defending Employees Access to No Cost Preventive Health Care Services

On February 15, 2016 the Harvard Law School Center for Health Law and Policy Innovation (CHLPI) spearheaded the filing of an amicus brief to the U.S. Supreme Court in Zubik v. Burwell, the next major challenge to the Affordable Care Act (ACA). The brief requests that the Court affirm multiple Courts of Appeals’ decisions upholding the federal Government’s choice to maintain access to no cost contraceptive services in health plans sponsored by employers, including religious non-profit employers. CHLPI and the other signatories submitted this brief to advocate for employees’ right to make their own medical decisions, without interference from their employers, and to protect our health care system’s ability to effectively respond to public health crises.

Twenty-six non-profit organizations signed onto the brief, including many health care access and HIV advocacy organizations. The list of organizations includes:

• AIDS Action Committee of Massachusetts, Inc.
• AIDS Alabama
• AIDS Foundation Chicago
• AIDS Law Project of Pennsylvania
• AIDS Project Los Angeles
• AIDS Research Consortium of Atlanta
• APLA Health & Wellness
• Cascade AIDS Project
• Community Catalyst, Inc.
• Eastern Bank Corporation
• The Empowerment Program
• Hepatitis Education Project
• HIV Prevention Justice Alliance
• John Snow, Inc.
• Latino Commission on AIDS and the Hispanic Health Network
• Legacy Community Health
• MassEquality
• Minnesota AIDS Project
• NO/AIDS Task Force
• North Carolina AIDS Action Network
• Positive Women’s Network–USA
• Project Inform
• SisterLove, Inc.
• Southern AIDS Coalition
• Southern HIV/AIDS Strategy Initiative at Duke University School of Law
• Rhode Island Public Health Institute
• Urban Coalition for HIV/AIDS Prevention Services

“Preventing religious employers from making health care access decisions for their employees is critical to ensuring that the ACA will carry out its intended goals and that the health of employees remains our top concern,” said Robert Greenwald, Clinical Professor of Law and Faculty Director of CHLPI. “This is particularly important as we work to create a health system that focuses on prevention and early intervention health care that both improves public health and health outcomes and reduces costs.”

Read the full press release about CHLPI’s amicus brief for Zubik v Burwell.
Read the amicus brief.
Read Harvard Law School’s article “Harvard Law Clinic Files Amicus Brief Defending Employees’ Access to No Cost Preventive Health Care”