The White House sent a message Thursday to closely held corporations like Hobby Lobby that if they want to opt out of contraceptive coverage, they have to tell their employees.

The White House sent a message Thursday to closely held corporations like Hobby Lobby that if they want to opt out of contraceptive coverage, they have to tell their employees.

White House via Shutterstock

The White House sent a message Thursday to closely held corporations like Hobby Lobby that if they want to opt out of contraceptive coverage, they have to tell their employees.

If companies decide not to cover any of the 20 methods of contraception covered under the Affordable Care Act, they have 60 days to disclose that change to their employees, according to an update on the Department of Labor’s website.

It is not a new rule, but rather a clarification that existing rules still apply after the Supreme Court granted corporations the religious freedom to deny their employees contraceptive coverage in employer-sponsored insurance plans.

The message from the White House is a response to the Senate’s failure on Wednesday to overcome a filibuster and pass a bill that would have overturned the Supreme Court’s ruling in the Hobby Lobby case.

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“Yesterday, a majority of the Senate voted for a bill to keep bosses from interfering in a woman’s health care. Now the House should act,” a senior administration official said. “In the meantime, we are making clear that if a corporation like Hobby Lobby drops coverage of contraceptive services from its health plan, it must do so in the light of day by letting its workers and their families know.”

Sen. Dick Durbin (D-IL) has also introduced a bill that would require corporations to disclose their lack of contraceptive coverage to potential employees as well as current ones.