Little Sisters Of The Poor Vs Burwell Case Study

Caption: Little Sisters of the Poor v. Burwell
Citation: No. 15-105, SUPREME COURT OF THE UNITED STATES, 578 U.S. __ (2016), March 23, 2016, Argued, May 16, 2016, Decided
Facts:
1. The contraceptive mandate of the Obama Care requires all employers, who have more than 50 employees, to include contraceptive coverage through their health insurance plans.
2. The mandate allows non-profit organizations who object to the contraceptive coverage to seek exemption from paying for the contraceptive costs by filing form 700. This mandate relieved the burden of costs for non-profit organizations. However, under this mandate, contraceptive coverage is still delivered through their health insurance plans.
3. According to the doctrine of the Catholic Church,

The government refused the Little Sisters’ petition.
6. The Little Sisters of the Poor was forced under the ACA to either pay enormous fines, which will consequently lead them to bankruptcy, or to act in contrary to their religious beliefs.
Legal History/Procedure:
1. The Little Sisters filed a suit against Burwell, Secretary of HHS to avoid complying with contraception mandate.
2. The 10th Circuit Court ruled in favor of the US Department of Health and Human Services.
3. The Little Sister appealed to the U.S. Supreme Court.
4. The Supreme Court vacated the ruling of the 10th Circuit Court. The Supreme Court asked both parties to arrive at an approach where female employees can receive affordable contraceptive coverage, while the Little Sisters’ religious exercises are not substantially burdened.
Holdings:
1. The Little Sisters has the right to exercise their religious belief under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution. The contraceptive mandate causes undue burden for the Little Sisters to exercise their religion.
2. There are other approaches through which the government can provide affordable/free contraceptive coverage to female employees, without involvement from the Little Sisters and their health

Most health plans in the U.S exclude adult dental services, vision services, weight loss treatment and long-term care. It is up to the employers’ choice to provide dental insurance and/or vision insurance to their employees. One in three American people suffer from obesity, which causes many other diseases such as diabetes, heart failure, stroke, etc. Why are there no laws requiring the employer to provide dental, vision and weight-loss services to their employees? Why does the government not offer to provide those services free of cost to all American people? Why can the government require insurance company to make independent contraceptive-only plan, just as they did with dental plan and vision