The Hobby Lobby Problem and the HSA/HRA Solution

Abstract

The controversy about the contraception mandate is unnecessary. The tax law contains devices for reconciling the religious concerns of employers like Hobby Lobby with the policy of expanding medical coverage: health savings accounts (HSAs) and health reimbursement arrangements (HRAs). The current regulatory exemption should be amended in two respects, to include for-profit employers and to exempt from the federal mandate employers (both nonprofit and profit-making) that maintain HSAs or HRAs for their employees.

Keywords: contraception mandate, Hobby Lobby, Obamacare, employer mandate, Religious Freedom Restoration Act

JEL Classification: K34