Several non-profit religious healthcare facilities are in danger of losing pension plans for their employees. They are being sued and their cases will be heard by the Supreme Court.
OneNewsNow.com reports that the Court will soon hear these cases and decide whether these Christian healthcare facilities qualify as religious enough to receive exemption.
Attorney Diana Verm with The Becket Fund, explains:
“These are cases about religious ministries – like hospitals and health clinics – that are often helping and serving churches,” Verm explained. “Many of these hospitals have been sued over their employee pension plans. There's a church plan exemption from the laws that govern employee pension plans, and this lawsuit is over whether the ministry out of the church can use that exemption.
“So that goes against 30 years of IRS precedent, and it also interferes with the definition of what religion is,” Verm continues. “If you have a court that's trying to figure out if the ministry is closely associated enough to the church, that causes religious liberty issues.
Employees of these Christian healthcare companies are the ones who really have something at stake in these cases. If the cases are decided against the Christian healthcare companies, employees of these companies will likely receive less in benefits and retirement funds.
Publication date: December 7, 2016
