Is the price tag for fines Hobby Lobby would have accrued by today for defying the Department of Health and Human Services abortion-drug mandate. So they’ve decided to shift their plan year, since they courts have not given them a reprieve from the mandate that went into effect for businesses whose plan dates are January on the first of the year.
From their latest statement (via the Becket Fund for Religious Liberty):
Following Justice Sonia Sotomayor’s decision on December 26th denying Hobby Lobby temporary relief from the HHS mandate to provide abortion-causing drugs as part of its healthcare plan, the company faced exposure to penalties beginning January 1. Subsequently, Hobby Lobby discovered a way to shift the plan year for its employee health insurance, thus postponing the effective date of the mandate for several months. Hobby Lobby does not provide coverage for abortion-inducing drugs in its healthcare plan. Hobby Lobby will continue to vigorously defend its religious liberty and oppose the mandate and any penalties.