5 Illinois firms await ruling on Obamacare contraception cases

Nov. 26--Five Illinois companies have a stake in the Supreme Court's decision to consider religious objections to a provision of Obamacare requiring employers to provide health insurance that covers birth control.

The high court will consider the cases of Hobby Lobby, an Oklahoma-based arts and crafts retailer whose objections have been upheld by lower courts, and Conestoga Wood Specialties Inc., a Pennsylvania company that has lost its challenge in lower courts.

The two companies are fighting a provision of the 2010 Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act that requires employers to provide health insurance policies that include preventive services for women, including access to contraception and sterilization.

The key question before the Supreme Court is whether corporations should be treated the same as individuals when making free exercise of religion claims under the First Amendment of the U.S. Constitution and a 1993 federal law called the Religious Freedom Restoration Act.

In Illinois, five companies have raised similar objections. They include Triune Health Group in Oak Brook, Korte & Luitjohan Contractors in Highland and Ozinga Bros., a ready-mix concrete company in Mokena.

Triune Health Group employs 80 workers, including about 50 nurses, counselors and other health care providers, and offers rehabilitation services for workplace injuries and health coaching to its 400 corporate and individual clients.

According to court documents, Christopher Yep, a vocational rehabilitation counselor, and his wife, Mary Anne, a registered nurse, opened Disability Management Network more than 20 years ago after hearing Focus on the Family founder James Dobson interview an author about biblically based business models.

The Yeps not only tried to incorporate biblical principles, they also tried to integrate Catholic church teachings, including the papal encyclical "On Human Work" written by then-Pope John Paul II, court files said. The couple changed the company's name to Triune -- referring to the Father, Son and Holy Spirit -- in 2007 to reflect their religious convictions.

Ozinga Bros., a fourth-generation family-owned company, operates 33 concrete mixing plants in the Chicago area. It's environmental policies are part of Ozinga's efforts to fulfill its Scriptural "charge to care for the earth." The company employs approximately 750 people.

Last month, Korte & Luitjohan won its challenge in the 7th Circuit Court of Appeals, which upheld a preliminary injunction barring enforcement of the mandate against them, further illustrating the wide array of opinion in lower courts, of which the Supreme Court will be the final arbiter.

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