UPDATED 6:10 p.m.
PEORIA, Ill. – A published report criticizes Peoria-based OSF HealthCare for a particular benefit it doesn’t provide some of its employees.
An article in Bloomberg Law online says OSF does not pay for fertility treatments for its LGBTQ employees — only for opposite-sex couples.
Bloomberg reports the Centers for Disease Control definition of infertility as “a person unable to get pregnant after a year of unprotected sex,” their article said.
The OSF policy — transferred to Blue Cross-Blue Shield as their new third party administrator this year — narrows that definition to include “a married couple of opposite sex spouses.”
Pro-LGBTQ attorneys tell Bloomberg it is clear discrimination, but an attorney for a Christian group says OSF has a right to do what they did.
An OSF spokesperson tells Bloomberg the benefits are offered with full compliance from the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services, and comply with law.
OSF HealthCare has 24,000 employees between their facilities in Illinois and Michigan, according to Bloomberg.
For more than 145 years, OSF HealthCare, sponsored by Franciscan Sisters, has cared for persons in its service areas. Our Mission drives us to see the dignity of all persons as children of God.
As a ministry of the Catholic Church, OSF has aligned its employee benefits with the norms of the “Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services.” Sometimes called ERDs, it is a document developed by the US Conference of Catholic Bishops to guide Catholic health care entities across our Nation.
The employee benefits we provide are driven by the OSF Mission and are in full compliance with the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services as well as state and federal laws, including the Religious Freedom and Restoration Act. — OSF Healthcare statement
