Not surprisingly, leading up to and in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, our employee benefits team has been spending a lot of time helping our clients wade through the many issues associated with providing abortion-related benefits to their employees. This article will cover some of the key considerations we have been counseling our clients to consider when covering abortion and abortion travel benefits under a group health plan, which could be directly through their major medical plan or under a health reimbursement arrangement (HRA) that is integrated with a group major medical plan. There are also other potential ways for employers to provide an abortion travel benefit separately from the group health plan approach, including through an employee assistance program or a broad wellness travel policy. We will publish a separate article on those options in the coming weeks.
Note that in general, the analysis below applies with respect to self-funded ERISA plans. Employers with fully-insured plans will generally have no control over the terms of their plans and are subject to whatever the insurance company and state insurance law permits, with the exception of perhaps being able to create a self-funded HRA to provide additional abortion-related benefits. See the fourth key consideration below, for more information on HRA options.
First Key Consideration: What abortion or medical travel expense...
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