Notre Dame Employees Will Still Have Access To Birth Control Coverage

Employees of the University of Notre Dame will still have access to no cost birth control after the end of the year, through a third party provider.

Notre Dame announced last week it would no longer provide coverage to employees. Their health care provider, Meritain Health, announced it will continue to offer the coverage at no cost to plan members.

The University had been party to a lawsuit challenging the Affordable Care Act mandate that required no cost contraceptive coverage. The result of the suit allowed Notre Dame to offer the coverage through the third party health care provider instead of directly.

A recent decision by the Trump administration allowing for exemptions to the birth control mandate for religious or moral reasons enabled the University to drop the coverage all together. Meritain Health announced it will continue to offer coverage funded by the ACA to Notre Dame plan members.

In an email to employees Notre Dame says while it “follows Catholic teaching about the use of contraceptives” it recognizes “the plurality of religious and other convictions among its employees, and will not interfere with the provision of contraceptives that will be administered and funded independently of the University.”