Religious Exemptions and Accommodations for Coverage of Certain Preventive Services under the Affordable Care Act. CMS-9940-IFC (US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Regulation) (CMS) (2018 Edition) The Law Library presents the complete text of the Religious Exemptions and Accommodations for Coverage of Certain Preventive Services under the Affordable Care Act. CMS-9940-IFC (US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Regulation) (CMS) (2018 Edition). Updated as of May 29, 2018 The United States has a long history of providing conscience protections in the regulation of health care for entities and individuals with objections based on religious beliefs and moral convictions. These interim final rules expand exemptions to protect religious beliefs for certain entities and individuals whose health plans are subject to a mandate of contraceptive coverage through guidance issued pursuant to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. These rules do not alter the discretion of the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA), a component of the United States Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), to maintain the guidelines requiring contraceptive coverage where no regulatorily recognized objection exists. These rules also leave the "accommodation" process in place as an optional process for certain exempt entities that wish to use it voluntarily. These rules do not alter multiple other Federal programs that provide free or subsidized contraceptives for women at risk of unintended pregnancy. This book contains: - The complete text of the Religious Exemptions and Accommodations for Coverage of Certain Preventive Services under the Affordable Care Act. CMS-9940-IFC (US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Regulation) (CMS) (2018 Edition) - A table of contents with the page number of each section

Moral Exemptions and Accommodations for Coverage of Certain Preventive Services under the Affordable Care Act (US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Regulation) (CMS) (2018 Edition) The Law Library presents the complete text of the Moral Exemptions and Accommodations for Coverage of Certain Preventive Services under the Affordable Care Act (US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Regulation) (CMS) (2018 Edition). Updated as of May 29, 2018 The United States has a long history of providing conscience protections in the regulation of health care for entities and individuals with objections based on religious beliefs or moral convictions. These interim final rules expand exemptions to protect moral convictions for certain entities and individuals whose health plans are subject to a mandate of contraceptive coverage through guidance issued pursuant to the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act. These rules do not alter the discretion of the Health Resources and Services Administration, a component of the United States Department of Health and Human Services, to maintain the guidelines requiring contraceptive coverage where no regulatorily recognized objection exists. These rules also provide certain morally objecting entities access to the voluntary "accommodation" process regarding such coverage. These rules do not alter multiple other Federal programs that provide free or subsidized contraceptives for women at risk of unintended pregnancy. This book contains: - The complete text of the Moral Exemptions and Accommodations for Coverage of Certain Preventive Services under the Affordable Care Act (US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Regulation) (CMS) (2018 Edition) - A table of contents with the page number of each section

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act - Annual Eligibility Redeterminations for Exchange Participation and Insurance Affordability Programs (US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Regulation) (CMS) (2018 Edition) The Law Library presents the complete text of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act - Annual Eligibility Redeterminations for Exchange Participation and Insurance Affordability Programs (US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Regulation) (CMS) (2018 Edition). Updated as of May 29, 2018 This final rule specifies additional options for annual eligibility redeterminations and renewal and re-enrollment notice requirements for qualified health plans offered through the Exchange, beginning with annual redeterminations for coverage for benefit year 2015. This final rule provides additional flexibility for Exchanges, including the ability to propose unique approaches that meet the specific needs of their state, while streamlining the consumer experience. This book contains: - The complete text of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act - Annual Eligibility Redeterminations for Exchange Participation and Insurance Affordability Programs (US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Regulation) (CMS) (2018 Edition) - A table of contents with the page number of each section

Exemptions from legal requirements, especially religious exemptions, have been a major topic of political debate in recent years. For example, bakers in various states have sought the right to refuse to make wedding cakes for gay and lesbian couples, despite the Supreme Court's validation of same-sex marriage. Many parents are granted exemptions from vaccinating their children, despite public health laws requiring otherwise. Various religious organizations as well as some corporations have sought an exemption from the requirement to provide contraceptive coverage in employee healthcare plans, as required by the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Religious exemptions have a long history in the United States, but they remain controversial. Exemptions release some people from following laws that everyone else must follow, raising questions of fairness, and exemptions often privilege religious belief, raising concerns about equal treatment. At the same time there are good reasons to support exemptions, such as respect for the right of religious freedom and preventing religious organizations from becoming too closely intertwined with government. The essays in this volume represent valuable contributions to the complex debate about exemptions from legal requirements. In particular, they contribute to the moral dimensions of religious exemptions. These essays go beyond legal analysis about which exemptions are constitutionally appropriate, and ask instead when religious exemptions are morally required or morally prohibited.

Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act - Amendments to the HHS Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters for 2014 (US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Regulation) (CMS) (2018 Edition) The Law Library presents the complete text of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act - Amendments to the HHS Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters for 2014 (US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Regulation) (CMS) (2018 Edition). Updated as of May 29, 2018 This interim final rule with comment builds upon standards set forth in the HHS Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters for 2014, published elsewhere in this issue of the Federal Register. This document will adjust risk corridors calculations that would align the calculations with the single risk pool provision, and set standards permitting issuers of qualified health plans the option of using an alternate methodology for calculating the value of cost-sharing reductions provided for the purpose of reconciliation of advance payments of cost-sharing reductions. This book contains: - The complete text of the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act - Amendments to the HHS Notice of Benefit and Payment Parameters for 2014 (US Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Regulation) (CMS) (2018 Edition) - A table of contents with the page number of each section

Within the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act ("PPACA" or the "Act"), the individual health insurance mandate ("individual mandate") - the provision which dictates that in 2014 and beyond all citizens must either have a form of health insurance or pay a tax penalty - has already been subjected to a number of constitutional challenges. The 3rd, 4th, 6th, and 11th Circuits have all heard challenges brought on similar grounds, with largely inconsistent results. While the focus of much of this litigation has centered around whether the individual mandate is a constitutional extension of Congress's taxing power, this paper sets aside the Commerce Clause question that has demanded so much attention from the courts and asks instead whether the two religious exemptions written into the PPACA have struck an appropriate balance between the Constitution's Religion Clauses. The paper argues that as currently drafted, the "religious conscience exemption" to the PPACA's individual mandate threatens the efficacy of the Act and potentially exposes it to legal challenges on Free Exercise and Establishment Clause grounds. This paper begins by analyzing the history behind the first of two religious exemptions written into the individual mandate, the religious conscience exemption, which allows certain religious individuals to avoid the individual mandate's tax penalty without acquiring health insurance. The language of the exemption was taken directly from an existing religious conscience exemption to Social Security, designed to apply narrowly to the Old Order Amish. Because the purposes and goals of the PPACA differ from those of Social Security, this paper argues that it was unwise to write this same religious exemption into the PPACA. Next, this paper analyzes the constitutionality of the individual mandate under the Religion Clauses of the Constitution. It identifies the PPACA as a "generally applicable federal law that incidentally burdens the free exercise of religion" and discusses the meaning of those terms. It concludes that as currently drafted, the individual mandate is likely constitutional, though the religious conscience exemption potentially exposes the Act to an Establishment Clause challenge. Finally, because the religious conscience exemption allows some individuals to remain outside the health insurance market and additionally thwarts government efforts to ensure that all citizens are properly protected under a qualifying healthcare plan, this paper argues the religious conscience exemption unnecessarily interferes with two of the PPACA's primary purposes. The analysis reveals that the second religious exemption, the "healthcare sharing ministry exemption," makes the religious conscience exemption entirely redundant. Because the health care sharing ministry exemption is open to a larger number of religious objectors and has the potential to better protect religious individuals in the event that they do need medical care, the religious conscience exemption can likely be removed from the Act without exposing the PPACA to additional problems under the Religion Clauses. The paper concludes by proposing that the first exemption be removed from the individual mandate and that the government heighten its regulation of health care sharing ministries in order to ensure that they provide a sufficient alternative to non-religious forms of health insurance, as the PPACA intends.

A princess thinks she was a bird, a coconut that cost a thousand rupees, and a shepherd with a bag of words...Kings and misers, princes and paupers, wise men and foolish boys, the funniest and oddest men and women come alive in this sparkling new collection of stories. The clever princess will only marry the man who can ask her a question she cannot answer; the orphan boy outwits his greedy uncles with a bag of ash; and an old couple in distress is saved by a magic drum. Sudha Murty's grandparents told her some of these stories when she was a child; others she heard from her friends from around the world. These delightful and timeless folktales have been her favourites for years, and she has recounted them many times over to the young people in her life. With this collection, they will be enjoyed by many more readers, of all ages. Age group of target audience is 8+.