Massachusetts has just set themselves ahead of the game by passing a bill to ensure that free birth control is provided to women. The ACCESS bill: Advancing Contraception Coverage and Economic Security in our State (Massachusetts).
Republican Gov. Charlie Baker signed the bill into law on Monday, November 2017, making Massachusetts the first state to counter the Trump administration’s change in policy when it comes to birth control. The purpose of the ACCESS bill is to protect women’s ability to receive free birth control even if the Affordable Care Act was to be repealed. It also works as protection against President Trump’s executive order that allows employers to opt out of providing birth control coverage due to moral or religious objections.
So what does the bill provide exactly?
The bill will allow women to have access to most contraception through their insurance, without a co-pay. It also requires that health insurance in Massachusetts covers most methods of contraception. The bill will cover a year supply of the pill after a three month trial period, it also covers emergency contraception as well as voluntary sterilization. Over the counter emergency contraception (a.k.a the morning after pill) will also be free of a co-payment.
Massachusetts is the first state to set a law such as this one as well as the first state to begin preparing for changes in women’s health at the federal level.
You go Massachusetts!
Sources:
https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/11/14/senate-passes-bill-ensure-f…
https://www.bostonglobe.com/metro/2017/11/20/obamacare-not-birth-control…
http://www.masslive.com/politics/index.ssf/2017/11/massachusetts_house_p…
http://www.wbur.org/commonhealth/2017/11/20/mass-birth-control-access-law
https://malegislature.gov/Bills/190/S499/BillHistory
Cover Photo: https://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/290196.php