Opinion ID: 2816858
Heading Depth: 2
Heading Rank: 1

Heading: The Insured Plaintiffs

Text: Assuming causation is key, I agree the accommodation scheme does not substantially burden the insured plaintiffs’ religious exercise. As the Court explains, even total inaction on the part of an insured non-profit still results in its plan participants and beneficiaries receiving the coverage to which they are entitled under the ACA because the government has independently obligated a third party (insurance issuers) to provide it.3 See Slip Op. at 46–47. Opting out in the insured context does not cause the receipt of contraceptive coverage; rather, it merely absolves the eligible insured nonprofit of any responsibility for the contraceptive coverage its plan participants and beneficiaries will receive whether it opts out or not. Thus, assuming Plaintiffs must show how opting out causes coverage, the accommodation scheme does not substantially burden the insured plaintiffs’ exercise of religion. The insured accommodation is more akin to traditional conscientious objector schemes: the government can and will conscript the actors it needs to achieve its goals whether objectors opt out or not. The same cannot be said of the self-insured plaintiffs, however. 3 Even the government’s proffered fourth option—declining to sponsor a group health plan—would not interfere with contraceptive coverage for the insured plaintiffs’ plan beneficiaries. Without an employer-sponsored plan, these beneficiaries would have to find other health insurance. See Nat’l Fed’n of Indep. Bus. v. Sebelius, 132 S. Ct. 2566, 2664 (2012) (Scalia, J., dissenting). And that insurance would likely cover contraceptives. See 42 U.S.C. § 300gg-13. 6