I 
113TH CONGRESS 
2D SESSION 
H. R. 5051 
To ensure that employers cannot interfere in their employees’ birth control 
and other health care decisions. 
IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES 
JULY 9, 2014 
Ms. SLAUGHTER (for herself, Ms. DEGETTE, Mr. NADLER, Mr. BERA of Cali-
fornia, Mr. BISHOP of New York, Mr. BLUMENAUER, Ms. BONAMICI, Mr. 
BRADY of Pennsylvania, Mr. BRALEY of Iowa, Ms. BROWNLEY of Cali-
fornia, Mrs. CAPPS, Ms. CASTOR of Florida, Ms. CHU, Mr. CICILLINE, 
Ms. CLARK of Massachusetts, Ms. CLARKE of New York, Mr. CLAY, Mr. 
COHEN, Mr. CONNOLLY, Mr. CONYERS, Mr. CUMMINGS, Mr. DANNY K. 
DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. DEFAZIO, Ms. DELAURO, Ms. DELBENE, Mr. 
DOGGETT, Ms. DUCKWORTH, Ms. EDWARDS, Mr. ELLISON, Ms. ESTY, 
Mr. FARR, Mr. FATTAH, Ms. FRANKEL of Florida, Ms. FUDGE, Mr. 
GRAYSON, Ms. HAHN, Mr. HASTINGS of Florida, Mr. HONDA, Mr. 
HOYER, Mr. HUFFMAN, Mr. ISRAEL, Ms. JACKSON LEE, Ms. EDDIE 
BERNICE JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Mr. KEATING, 
Mr. KENNEDY, Mr. KILMER, Mrs. KIRKPATRICK, Ms. KUSTER, Ms. LEE 
of California, Mr. LEVIN, Mr. LEWIS, Ms. LOFGREN, Mr. LOWENTHAL, 
Mrs. LOWEY, Mr. BEN RAY LUJA´N of New Mexico, Ms. MICHELLE 
LUJAN GRISHAM of New Mexico, Mr. MAFFEI, Mrs. CAROLYN B. MALO-
NEY of New York, Ms. MATSUI, Mrs. MCCARTHY of New York, Ms. 
MCCOLLUM, Mr. MCDERMOTT, Mr. MCGOVERN, Ms. MENG, Mr. 
MICHAUD, Mr. GEORGE MILLER of California, Ms. MOORE, Mr. MORAN, 
Mr. MURPHY of Florida, Ms. NORTON, Mr. PALLONE, Ms. PELOSI, Mr. 
PERLMUTTER, Mr. PETERS of Michigan, Mr. PETERS of California, Ms. 
PINGREE of Maine, Mr. POCAN, Mr. POLIS, Mr. PRICE of North Caro-
lina, Mr. QUIGLEY, Mr. RANGEL, Ms. ROYBAL-ALLARD, Mr. RUIZ, Mr. 
RYAN of Ohio, Ms. LINDA T. SA´NCHEZ of California, Mr. SARBANES, Ms. 
SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. SCHIFF, Mr. SCHNEIDER, Ms. SCHWARTZ, Mr. SCOTT 
of Virginia, Ms. SHEA-PORTER, Mr. SIRES, Mr. SMITH of Washington, 
Ms. SPEIER, Mr. SWALWELL of California, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. THOMPSON 
of California, Mr. TIERNEY, Ms. TITUS, Mr. TONKO, Ms. TSONGAS, Mr. 
VAN HOLLEN, Ms. WASSERMAN SCHULTZ, Mr. WAXMAN, Mr. WELCH, 
Ms. WILSON of Florida, Mr. YARMUTH, Ms. BASS, Ms. BROWN of Flor-
ida, Mr. BUTTERFIELD, Mr. CLEAVER, Mr. CROWLEY, Ms. ESHOO, Mr. 
GENE GREEN of Texas, Mr. GRIJALVA, Mr. GUTIE´RREZ, Mr. KILDEE, 
Mrs. NAPOLITANO, Mr. PASTOR of Arizona, Mr. PAYNE, Mr. VEASEY, 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
02:08 Jul 12, 2014
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00001
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6652
E:\BILLS\H5051.IH
H5051
jbell on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
Ms. WATERS, Mr. MCNERNEY, Mr. HIGGINS, Ms. SINEMA, Mr. 
HORSFORD, and Mr. BECERRA) introduced the following bill; which was 
referred to the Committee on Education and the Workforce, and in addi-
tion to the Committees on Energy and Commerce and Ways and Means, 
for a period to be subsequently determined by the Speaker, in each case 
for consideration of such provisions as fall within the jurisdiction of the 
committee concerned 
A BILL 
To ensure that employers cannot interfere in their employees’ 
birth control and other health care decisions. 
Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa-
tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 
SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 
This Act may be cited as the ‘‘Protect Women’s 
Health From Corporate Interference Act of 2014’’. 
SEC. 2. PURPOSE. 
The purpose of this Act is to ensure that employers 
that provide health benefits to their employees cannot 
deny any specific health benefits, including contraception 
coverage, to any of their employees or the covered depend-
ents of such employees entitled by Federal law to receive 
such coverage. 
SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 
Congress finds as follows: 
(1) Access to the full range of health benefits 
and preventive services, as guaranteed under Fed-
eral law or through Federal regulations, provides all 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
02:08 Jul 12, 2014
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00002
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5051.IH
H5051
jbell on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
Americans with the opportunity to lead healthier 
and more productive lives. 
(2) Birth control is a critical health care service 
for women. Ninety-nine percent of sexually active 
women use birth control at least once in their life-
times, and the Centers for Disease Control and Pre-
vention declared it one of the Ten Great Public 
Health Achievements of the 20th Century. While the 
most common reason women use contraception is to 
prevent pregnancy, 58 percent of oral contraceptive 
users cite noncontraceptive health benefits as rea-
sons for using the method. Fourteen percent of birth 
control pill users, more than 1,500,000 women, rely 
on birth control pills for noncontraceptive purposes 
only. 
(3) In addition to providing health benefits for 
women, access to birth control has been directly con-
nected to women’s economic success and ability to 
participate in society equally. Women with access to 
birth control are more likely to have higher edu-
cational achievement and career achievement, and to 
be paid higher wages. 
(4) The independent, nonprofit Institute of 
Medicine recommends, as part of its recommended 
preventive health measures, that women’s preventive 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
02:08 Jul 12, 2014
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00003
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5051.IH
H5051
jbell on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
health be covered by health plans with no cost-shar-
ing to promote optimal health of women. The Insti-
tute of Medicine noted that the contraceptive meth-
ods recommendation was one of the most important 
recommendations for women. 
(5) Affordability has long been a barrier to 
women being able to use birth control and other pre-
ventive health services effectively. A national survey 
of women who were currently using some form of 
contraception found that one-third would switch to a 
different method of contraception if they did not 
have to worry about cost. Women citing cost con-
cerns were twice as likely as other women to rely on 
less effective methods of contraception. 
(6) Three separate studies have found that lack 
of health coverage is significantly associated with re-
duced use of prescription contraceptives. 
(7) Cost-sharing requirements can dramatically 
reduce the use of preventive health care measures, 
particularly among lower-income women. Studies 
have shown that eliminating cost-sharing for the 
most effective forms of contraception (intrauterine 
devices, implants, and injectables) leads to sizable 
increases in the use of these methods. 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
02:08 Jul 12, 2014
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00004
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5051.IH
H5051
jbell on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
(8) The Patient Protection and Affordable Care 
Act (Public Law 111–148) sought to remove the 
barrier to care by requiring all new health plans to 
cover recommended preventive services without cost- 
sharing, which include women’s preventative serv-
ices. These services include all methods of contracep-
tion and sterilization approved by the Food and 
Drug Administration and related education and 
counseling, as prescribed by a health care provider. 
(9) The contraceptive coverage provision has 
been a success in increasing access to this critical 
health service for women. As of 2013, 47,000,000 
women were covered by this requirement. Women 
have saved $483,000,000 in out-of-pocket costs for 
oral contraceptives with no copayments in 2013 
compared to 2012. 
(10) The Journal of the American Medical As-
sociation reports that 7 out of 10 people in the 
United States support coverage of contraception, 
with significantly higher support among women, 
Hispanic Americans, and Black Americans. 
(11) An estimated 76,000,000 people in the 
United States, including 30,000,000 women, are 
newly eligible for expanded preventive services cov-
erage under the Patient Protection and Affordable 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
02:08 Jul 12, 2014
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00005
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5051.IH
H5051
jbell on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
Care Act. A total of 48,500,000 women are esti-
mated to benefit from preventive services coverage 
without cost-sharing. 
(12) The most appropriate method of contra-
ception varies according to each individual woman’s 
needs and medical history. Women may have medical 
contraindications and thus not be able to use certain 
types of contraceptive methods. It is therefore vital 
that the full range of contraceptive methods ap-
proved by the Food and Drug Administration be 
available in order to ensure that each woman, in 
consultation with her medical provider, can make ap-
propriate decisions about her health care. 
(13) Covering proven preventative services like 
contraception lowers health care spending as it im-
proves health. The Federal Government experienced 
no increase in costs at all after it began covering 
contraceptives for Federal employees. A study by the 
National Business Group on Health estimated that 
it costs employers 15 to 17 percent more to not pro-
vide contraceptive coverage in employee health plans, 
accounting for the employer’s direct medical costs of 
pregnancy and indirect costs related to employee ab-
sence and reduced productivity. 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
02:08 Jul 12, 2014
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00006
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5051.IH
H5051
jbell on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
(14) Dozens of cases have been filed in Federal 
court by employers that want to take this benefit 
away from their employees and the covered depend-
ents of such employees. 
(15) On June 30, 2014, the Supreme Court 
held, in Burwell v. Hobby Lobby Stores, Inc. and 
Conestoga Wood Specialties Corp. v. Burwell, that 
some for-profit corporations can take away the birth 
control coverage guaranteed to their employees and 
the covered dependents of such employees through 
their group health plan. 
(16) In a dissent in those cases, Justice Ruth 
Bader Ginsburg states that in this ‘‘decision of star-
tling breadth . . . the exemption sought by Hobby 
Lobby and Conestoga . . . would deny legions of 
women who do not hold their employers’ beliefs ac-
cess to contraceptive coverage that the ACA would 
otherwise secure.’’ Justice Ginsburg also notes that 
the decision opens up the door to religiously ground-
ed employer objections to a whole host of health care 
services 
like 
‘‘blood 
transfusions 
. . .. 
antidepressants . . . medications derived from pigs, 
including anesthesia . . . and vaccinations.’’. 
(17) The Supreme Court’s decision in those 
cases allows employers, that otherwise provide cov-
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
02:08 Jul 12, 2014
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00007
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5051.IH
H5051
jbell on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
erage of preventive health services, to deny their em-
ployees and the covered dependents of such employ-
ees contraceptive coverage and to treat a critical 
women’s health service differently than other com-
parable services. Legislation is needed to clarify that 
employers may not discriminate against their em-
ployees and dependents. 
(18) It is imperative that Congress act to rein-
state contraception coverage and to protect employ-
ees and the covered dependents of such employees 
from other attempts to take away coverage for other 
health benefits to which such employees and depend-
ents are entitled under Federal law. 
SEC. 4. ENSURING COVERAGE OF SPECIFIC BENEFITS. 
(a) IN GENERAL.—An employer that establishes or 
maintains a group health plan for its employees (and any 
covered dependents of such employees) shall not deny cov-
erage of a specific health care item or service with respect 
to such employees (or dependents) where the coverage of 
such item or service is required under any provision of 
Federal law or the regulations promulgated thereunder. 
A group health plan, as defined in section 733(a) of the 
Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (29 
U.S.C. 1191b(a)), sponsored by an employer, employee or-
ganization, or both, and any health insurance coverage, 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
02:08 Jul 12, 2014
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00008
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5051.IH
H5051
jbell on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
as defined in section 2791(b) of the Public Health Service 
Act (42 U.S.C. 300gg–91) is required to provide coverage 
required under the Public Health Service Act, including 
section 2713 of such Act (42 U.S.C. 300gg–13), in addi-
tion to other applicable requirements. 
(b) APPLICATION.—Subsection (a) shall apply not-
withstanding any other provision of Federal law, including 
Public Law 103–141. 
(c) REGULATIONS.—The regulations contained in 
sections 54.9815-2713A of title 26, 2590.715-2713A of 
title 29, and 147.131 of title 45, Code of Federal Regula-
tions, shall apply with respect to this section. The Depart-
ments of Labor, Health and Human Services, and the 
Treasury may modify such regulations consistent with the 
purpose and findings of this Act. 
(d) ENFORCEMENT.—The provisions of this Act shall 
apply to plan sponsors, group health plans, and health in-
surance issuers as if enacted in the Employee Retirement 
Income Security Act of 1974 (29 U.S.C. 1001 et seq.), 
the Public Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 201 et seq.), 
and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. Any failure by 
a plan sponsor, group health plan, or health insurance 
issuer to comply with the provisions of this Act shall be 
subject to enforcement through part 5 of subtitle B of title 
I of the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
02:08 Jul 12, 2014
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00009
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6201
E:\BILLS\H5051.IH
H5051
jbell on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS
1974 (29 U.S.C. 1131 et seq.), section 2723 of the Public 
Health Service Act (42 U.S.C. 300gg–22), and section 
4980D of the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. 
Æ 
VerDate Mar 15 2010 
02:08 Jul 12, 2014
Jkt 039200
PO 00000
Frm 00010
Fmt 6652
Sfmt 6301
E:\BILLS\H5051.IH
H5051
jbell on DSK4SPTVN1PROD with BILLS