Hi everyone! This week I want to focus on birth control and why President Trump has decided to roll back on the Obama-era mandate on contraception coverage. So first a little background- during the Obama administration, contraception was made a required preventative health service for women, which means that they would require no co-pay for services and the cost of buying it would not go towards your deductible (CNN). This means that out of pocket payments went down and more people could afford it, the number of women with out of pocket expenditures on contraception has dropped from 21% pre-Obama care to 3% (“May 8”). The contraceptive coverage and preventative care policy has allowed insured women to have access to free and FDA approved contraceptives that could cost a lot of money out of pocket otherwise.
However, this last Friday the 6th, the Trump administration has scaled back this coverage, allowing more businesses to withdraw contraception coverage over religious or moral reasons. The department of Health and Human Services cannot predict how many entities will want exemptions from covering their employees (Goldstein et al.). The analysis that was done by HHS estimates that about one third of women, 120,000, who are covered by companies who had filed law suits against the Obama-era policy would have to pay for birth control on their own (Goldstein et al.). And these are only the groups that we know filed a law suit, HHS cannot predict the whole scope of companies who will pull coverage now that it is an option.
Part of the reason President Trump has decided to roll back this necessary coverage is because it could “among some populations, affect risky sexual behavior in a negative way” (2017-21851.pdf). How could contraceptive use affect risky sexual behavior? Contraceptives help to make sexual behavior among teenagers less risky, helping to decrease unplanned pregnancies. Giving teenagers “who are not already sexually active and at significant risk of unintended pregnancy” the option for contraceptive coverage does not increase their sexual behavior as this document insinuates (2017-21851.pdf). Instead, it educates young adults about the necessary precautions against sexually transmitted diseases and unplanned pregnancy, preparing them to make their own choices when it comes to their sexual health.
These changes being implemented are important of which to be aware. Whatever you believe in, birth control is an important part of health care to keep cheap and available because many women depend on it, not simple as family planning but are reliant on it for medical problems such as acne and uncontrollable periods. Reproductive health, preventative care and affordable access to contraception are all very important things that everyone needs to keep an eye out for.
Sources:
2017-21851.pdf. https://s3.amazonaws.com/public-inspection.federalregister.gov/2017-2185…. Accessed 9 Oct. 2017.
CNN, Sam Petulla. “3 Ways Obamacare Changed Birth Control.” CNN, http://www.cnn.com/2017/10/07/politics/obamacare-changed-birth-control-c…. Accessed 9 Oct. 2017.
Goldstein, Amy, et al. “Trump Administration Narrows Affordable Care Act’s Contraception Mandate.” Washington Post, 6 Oct. 2017. www.washingtonpost.com, https://www.washingtonpost.com/national/health-science/trump-administrat….
May 08, et al. “Ten Ways That the House American Health Care Act Could Affect Women.” The Henry J. Kaiser Family Foundation, 8 May 2017, https://www.kff.org/womens-health-policy/issue-brief/ten-ways-that-the-h….
https://www.getthefacts.health.wa.gov.au/condoms-contraception/types-of-…