There is no set of guidelines for corporate engagement regarding abortion. Many companies have come forward to say that they will cover travel expenses for employees who want to have abortions. Executives have had to quickly address concerns about confidentiality and safety and clarify the details.
Few companies have commented directly on the Supreme Court’s ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which ended nearly 50 years of federal abortion rights. Far more have responded by expanding their health care policies to cover travel and other expenses for employees who can’t get abortions close to home, now that the procedure is banned in at least eight states with other bans set to soon take effect. Workers are concerned about privacy because nearly half of the country receives its health care coverage through their employers.
“It’s a doomsday scenario if individuals have to bring their health care choices to their employers,” said Dina Fierro, a global vice president at the cosmetics company Nars, echoing a concern that many workers have expressed on social media in recent days.
Employers are now scrambling to address potential legal challenges to health care policies. They also need to respond to questions about past political donations to politicians that supported abortion bans. Match Group, whose former chief executives Shar Dubey and Planned Parenthood Los Angeles announced a fund in September that would support abortion access. It donated more than $100,000 to the Republican Attorneys General Association in 2017, according to Popular Information. Match Group declined to comment.
Among the companies that said they would assist employees who have to travel for abortions are Disney, Macy’s, H&M, Nordstrom, Nike, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and Snap, which join a larger group including Starbucks and Yelp that had previously committed to doing so. Both Google and Salesforce said that they would assist employees who wish to leave the states where abortion is illegal.
These employers only cover a fraction the millions of people in states where abortion is banned or soon will be banned. Other major employers have not made any public statements about employee assistance. The country’s largest private employer, Walmart, declined to comment on the Supreme Court’s ruling. Other large employers such as Target, Coca-Cola, and Delta Air Lines declined to comment on the Supreme Court’s ruling.
Some marketing experts point out that companies who weigh in on the issue will likely face some backlash. “Consumers and employees don’t want companies to ‘take a stand’ — unless companies take up They position and cause,” Kimberly Whitler, who teaches marketing at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business, said in an email.
Many employers are offering new benefits related to abortion. They want workers, as well as others on their health plans, to be able to get travel reimbursement without disclosing any information to their managers. This is to reduce confidentiality concerns. Sometimes, this means that people will submit claims to their insurance companies just like they would for other medical procedures. Yelp explained to its employees in April, for example that its travel benefits are administered through its insurance provider.
“No one at Yelp will ever receive any information on who incurred a claim or received reimbursement,” a Yelp spokeswoman said.
Aetna, one of the largest insurance companies, said it would “ensure our data practices comply with all applicable laws protecting the privacy of our members.” UnitedHealth declined to comment specifically on privacy issues. Anthem, Cigna, and Humana didn’t respond to requests for comment.
Expedia claimed that medical plan providers would reimburse travel costs and employees could use time off without mentioning the reason. BuzzFeed said that instead of reimbursements for abortion-related expenses, it would offer stipends that would be approved by the head of its human resources department — someone, the company said, who was trained to handle confidential issues.
PayPal claimed that it has an employee advocacy team that provides confidential information to employees about sensitive issues, such as how they use their health care benefits. Starbucks workers have third-party point people, called advocates, whom employees can anonymously approach with questions about health care benefits, ensuring they don’t have to disclose details about their medical needs to managers.
“That can be anything from ‘I’ve got knee surgery planned and want to make the right decision on a plan,’ to getting advice on what they should do if they intend to use the fertility benefit and everything in between,” said Reggie Borges, a spokesman for the company.
Some employers have provided details of their new policies regarding health care in memos to employees. Impossible Foods stated, for example that it would cover travel for abortions as well as lodging, meals, and child care. Wells Fargo said that as of July 1 its health care plans would include reimbursement for travel and lodging for “legal abortion-related services.” (Patagonia said it would also cover bail for employees who are arrested while peacefully protesting the Supreme Court’s decision.)
Many other companies were still working on their plans. Culture Amp, for example, an employee survey firm, said in announcing up to $2,000 in reimbursements for abortion-related travel that it was figuring out how to “minimize the disclosure of information in the reimbursement process.”
Monday’s announcement by the company indicated that they were still waiting for confirmation that flights or gas expenses could be routed through human resources and not through managers.
“You shouldn’t have to tell your manager you’re getting an abortion,” said Aubrey Blanche, a senior director at the company.
Although no state currently has a ban on women traveling out of state to have an abortion, some legal experts believe that such laws may be possible in the future. They could also be used to prosecute those who travel abroad. Texas Republican legislators have already stated that they intend to introduce legislation punishing companies that pay for out of-state abortion travel.
“We’re going to see creative attempts by people who are deeply committed to stopping abortion to use existing laws and pass new laws to stop as many abortions as possible, including those funded by companies,” said David Cohen, a constitutional law professor at Drexel University. “Companies are gearing up for a fight.”
Some executives were prepared for it. Marc Benioff, Salesforce’s chief executive, wrote in Friday’s blog, “An opportunity to make a difference.” tweet: “I believe CEOs have a responsibility to take care of their employees — no matter what.”
Lora KelleyContributed reporting
Source: NY Times
