What Is (and Isn't) at Stake for Obamacare in the Hobby Lobby Case

The Supreme Court won't strike down Obamacare's contraception mandate, but a ruling for the law's challengers could still render the policy toothless for millions of women.

The justices are set to rule any day now in a challenge to the birth-control mandate, and any decision against the policy would have ripple effects far beyond the two companies that filed this lawsuit. Just how far, however, depends on how broadly the Court rules—and it has plenty of options.

No matter what happens, the Court won't strike down the entire mandate. The two companies that brought their challenge to the Supreme Court—Hobby Lobby and Conestoga Wood Specialties—haven't asked the justices to ax the entire policy.

The most sweeping option is a broad First Amendment proclamation that all corporations have a fundamental right to exercise religion, in this case by refusing to cover birth control in their employees' health care plans. This outcome would be almost a sequel to the Citizens United case on campaign finance laws and free speech. It would probably open the door for any company to challenge a slew of state or federal regulations, and would allow any corporation to avoid the contraception mandate—potentially affecting millions of women.

SCOTUS for We The People, or AGAINST We The People, you can easily get OUT of 0bamacare by choosing one of the following options:

https://www.healthcare.gov/exemptions/

Hardship exemptions

If you have any of the circumstances below that affect your ability to purchase health insurance coverage, you may qualify for a “hardship” exemption:

You were homeless.

You were evicted in the past 6 months or were facing eviction or foreclosure.

You received a shut-off notice from a utility company.

You recently experienced domestic violence.

You recently experienced the death of a close family member.

You experienced a fire, flood, or other natural or human-caused disaster that caused substantial damage to your property.

You filed for bankruptcy in the last 6 months.

You had medical expenses you couldn’t pay in the last 24 months which resulted in substantial debt.

You experienced unexpected increases in necessary expenses due to caring for an ill, disabled, or aging family member.

You expect to claim a child as a tax dependent who’s been denied coverage in Medicaid and CHIP, and another person is required by court order to give medical support to the child. In this case, you do not have the pay the penalty for the child.

As a result of an eligibility appeals decision, you’re eligible for enrollment in a qualified health plan (QHP) through the Marketplace, lower costs on your monthly premiums, or cost-sharing reductions for a time period when you weren’t enrolled in a QHP through the Marketplace.

You were determined ineligible for Medicaid because your state didn’t expand eligibility for Medicaid under the Affordable Care Act.

Your individual insurance plan was cancelled and you believe other Marketplace plans are unaffordable.

You experienced another hardship in obtaining health insurance.

I guess I need to stop paying my bills or burn down my house and/or have Beau smack the cr@p out of me on a regular basis, and I’m free and clear!

SERIOUSLY? Am I the last remaining SANE PERSON in America? YEESH!

Second answer:

Muslims are not exempt from Obamacare by Executive Order or an HHS waiver.

They also do not appear to be exempt, as the Amish are, under the ACA law itself.

Muslims (generally) pay into and collect from Social Security. So they do not qualify for a religious exemption because they do not have an established religious practice of rejecting "the benefits of any private or public insurance which makes payments in the event of death, disability, old-age, or retirement or makes payments toward" medical care.
Muslims (generally) do not have a mutual aid system to spread the cost of healthcare among their community. So they wouldn't qualify for a religious exemption even though Islam/Sharia prohibits insurance or the grounds that it involves uncertainty, gambling, and interest charges.

Islam has continuously existed since before 1950. So, theoretically, if a Muslim sect could demonstrate that it meets both of the requirements listed above, the sect would qualify for a religious exemption. We shall see if any Muslims file for such when the law goes into effect in 2014.

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