Few companies have directly commented on the Supreme Court ruling in Dobbs v. Jackson Women’s Health Organization, which ended nearly 50 years of federal abortion rights. Many more have responded by extending their health care policies to cover travel and other expenses for employees who cannot have abortions near home, now that the process has been banned in at least eight states and other bans are soon to be introduced. power. About half the country receives healthcare coverage from employers, and the wave of new employer commitments has raised concerns among some workers about privacy. “It’s a disaster scenario if individuals have to bring their healthcare options to their employers,” said Dina Fierro, global vice president at cosmetics company Nars, reiterating a concern many employees have expressed on social media in recent days. Employers are trying to prepare for potential legal challenges to their health care policies, as well as to respond to the scrutiny of their previous donation policies to politicians who have advocated banning abortions. The Match Group, for example, whose former chief executive Shar Dubey announced a fund in September to support abortion access in partnership with Planned Parenthood Los Angeles, donated more than $ 100,000 to the Republican Attorney General’s Association last year, according to the report. in Popular Information. Match Group declined to comment. Among the companies that have said they will help employees who need to travel for abortions are Disney, Macy’s, H&M, Nordstrom, Nike, Dick’s Sporting Goods, Goldman Sachs, Bank of America and Snap, which are part of a larger group, including of Starbucks and Yelp who had previously committed to do so. Salesforce and Google have both said they will relocate employees who want to leave abortion-free states. These employers cover health care for only a fraction of the millions of people living in states where abortion is prohibited or will soon be. Other large employers have not made public statements about employee assistance. The country’s largest private employer, Walmart, declined to comment on the Supreme Court ruling. Other major employers such as Target, Coca-Cola and Delta Air Lines did not respond to requests for comment. Some marketing experts note that the companies that respond will probably face some reaction. “Consumers and employees do not want companies to ‘take a stand’ – unless companies take their stand and their purpose,” said Kimberly Whitler, who teaches marketing at the University of Virginia Darden School of Business. In an effort to allay fears of possible confidentiality issues, many employers presenting new abortion-related benefits aim to allow employees and others in their health care plans to receive travel compensation without revealing anything to their managers. In some cases, this means that people file claims with their insurance companies as they would for other medical procedures. Yelp, for example, explained to its employees in April that it was managing its travel benefits through its insurer. “No one at Yelp will ever receive any information about who made a claim or received compensation,” a Yelp spokeswoman said. Aetna, one of the largest insurance companies, said it would “ensure that our data practices comply with all applicable laws that protect the privacy of our members”. UnitedHealth declined to comment on specific privacy issues. Anthem, Cigna and Humana did not respond to a request for comment. Expedia said travel expenses would be reimbursed through medical plan providers and employees could use their breaks without giving a reason. BuzzFeed said that instead of reimbursing for abortion-related expenses, it would offer scholarships approved by its human resources manager – someone, the company said, who was trained to handle confidential matters. PayPal said it had an employee advocacy team that provided confidential information to employees on sensitive issues, including the use of health care benefits. Starbucks employees have third-party people, called advocates, who employees can approach anonymously with questions about the benefits of health care, ensuring that they do not have to reveal details about their medical needs to managers. UPDATED June 27, 2022, 7:38 p.m. ET “This can be anything from ‘I’m planning a knee operation and wanting to make the right decision for a plan’, to getting advice on what to do if they intend to use the fertility benefit and all the intermediates.” said Reggie. Borges, company representative. Some employers have presented the details of new healthcare policies in memoranda to staff. Impossible Foods, for example, said that in addition to abortion trips it would also cover accommodation, meals and childcare. Wells Fargo said that from July 1, its health care plans will include travel and accommodation allowances for “legal abortion-related services”. (Patagonia said it would also cover bail for officials arrested while protesting peacefully against the Supreme Court ruling.) Many other companies were still completing their plans. Culture Amp, for example, an employee research firm, said in announcing compensation of up to $ 2,000 for abortion-related trips that it was considering “minimizing information disclosure in the compensation process.” The company said Monday it was still receiving final confirmation that flight or gas costs could be routed for approval to the HR team instead of through managers. “You do not need to tell your manager that you are having an abortion,” said Aubrey Blanche, the company’s chief executive. At present, no banned state is trying to prosecute women traveling abroad for abortion, but some legal experts believe these laws could be possible in the future, as are efforts to use existing laws to prosecute travel for abortion. Republican lawmakers in Texas have already said they plan to introduce legislation that would penalize companies that pay for abortion trips abroad. “We will see creative efforts by people who are deeply committed to stop abortions to use existing laws and pass new laws to stop as many abortions as possible, including those funded by companies,” said David Cohen, a professor of constitutional law. at Drexel University. “Companies are preparing for a fight.” And some executives seemed prepared for it. On Friday, Marc Benioff, CEO of Salesforce, wrote in a tweet: “I believe CEOs have a responsibility to take care of their employees – no matter what.” Lora Kelley contributed to the petition.
