Catholic Benefits Association is a recently-formed organization comprised of nearly 200 Catholic employers and 1000 parishes from around the United States. The organization makes self-insurance plans with back-up stop loss insurance (with coverage consistent with Catholic values) available to members, and "provides a cost-effective strategy for Catholic employers seeking protection from the HHS contraception, abortion-inducing drugs or devices, sterilization, or related counseling ... Mandate and other similar state or federal mandates." (CBA FAQs).
With the U.S. Supreme Court about to hear arguments in the Hobby Lobby case on whether corporations can assert free exercise rights, it is interesting to note Catholic Benefits Association's criteria for becoming an employer member:
For-profit employers can become CBA members if (i) Catholics (or trusts or other entities wholly controlled by Catholic) own 51 percent or more of employer; (ii) 51 percent or more of the members of the employer’s governing body, if any, is comprised of Catholics; and (iii) either the employer’s owners or governing body has adopted a written policy stating that the employer is committed to providing no benefits to the employer’s employees or independent contractors inconsistent with Catholic values.UPDATE: The complaint (full text) in Catholic Benefits Association v. Sebelius,(WD OK, filed 3/12/2014) is now available.
