Going on the pill has never been cheaper. Soon enough, contraceptives will be co-pay free under the new health care reform.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services announced today that under health care reform legislation, health insurance companies will be required to cover preventive health care service – including prescription birth control – without a co-pay for women.
The non-partisan U.S. Institute of Medicine (IOM) panel was originally commissioned by the Obama administration to recommend which preventative health services all insurance plans should fully cover under the Affordable Care Act.
The recommendation, while supported by family planning groups, has been long-opposed by conservatives who balked at using taxpayer money to cover birth control methods. The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops has urged the government to exclude birth control as a service.
“The multi-billion dollar Catholic health care industry has a lot of influence with this administration, influence that it has now used to allow religious institutions to ride roughshod over the needs of their workers,” Catholics for Choice president Jon O’Brien said. “Not only that, it ignores the consciences of those who decide that to use a modern method of family planning is what is best for them and their families.”
However, according to a 2011 Guttmacher study, 98 percent of Catholic women who have had sex have used some form of contraception, despite the Catholic clergy’s strong opposition to it. Moreover, 68 percent of Catholic women and 74 percent of evangelical Christians said they had used a “highly effective method” of contraception, such as birth control pills or intra-uterine devices.
“As someone who has worked on women’s rights for nearly 30 years, I can say that today’s news marks one of the biggest advances for women’s health in a generation,” Nancy Keenan, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America said. “Currently, nearly one in three women finds it difficult to pay for birth control, and that’s why the United States has a far higher unintended-pregnancy rate than other industrialized countries. Making family-planning services available at no cost will help millions of women prevent unintended pregnancy and thereby reduce the need for abortion.”
Preventive services covered
- At least one “well-woman” preventive care visit annually.
- Screening for diabetes during pregnancy.
- Screening for the virus that causes cervical cancer for women 30 and older.
- Annual HIV counseling and screening for sexually active women.
- Screening for and counseling about domestic violence.
- Annual counseling on sexually transmitted infections for sexually active women.
- Support for breast feeding mothers, including the cost of renting pumps.
The guidelines will cover women in all new plans starting Jan. 1, 2013.