Should Insurance Companies Be Required To Cover Contraceptives In Their Prescription Policies?
Written by Dina Cook
irth control is basic health care that should be available to all women. According to the House Appropriations Subcommittee on State, Foreign Operations, the availability of contraceptives and knowledge about contraception has significantly reduced maternal mortality in countries such as Bolivia, Egypt and Zimbabwe, where 500 million women have been provided with modern contraceptive methods annually which in turn works to combat gender-based violence against women. Contraception can, in fact, save lives. Attacks on contraception are on the rise in the United States and around the world. Yet most women do not have access to reliable information about family planning including methods of contraception. According to Planned Parenthood Federation of America, "nearly half of all pregnancies in the United States are unintended, and nearly 40 percent of all unintended pregnancies end in abortion". Contraceptives have a proven track record of enhancing the health of women and children by preventing unintended pregnancy and reducing the need for abortion. Yet many insurance companies will not pay costs for this necessary part of basic health care. American woman should have the right to the full range of FDA approved methods in order to reduce the risk of unwanted pregnancy, unwanted children and disease.
n recent employer-based studies performed by KFF & HRET 2007, indicate that only 72 percent of employer health plans cover all methods of prescription contraception approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration. Although 89 percent of employer health plans cover only oral contraceptives these are not always the optimal method of contraception. Many women are better served by the use of in vitro methods which are more expensive and thus rejected or refused by most insurers. Contraceptives are an over the counter prescription medication and should be included in basic insurance prescription plans. Contraceptives are expensive and frequently out of reach of those who would benefit most, the lower middle class and poor. Birth control prices have risen as high as 900% over last year’s prices thanks to Bush’s Federal Deficit Reduction Act which removed college health centers from discount drug purchasing programs. As a result many families without medical insurance coverage fall into debt and hard times with additional children that was unplanned adding to the costs to government and society as a whole. Women who do not have insurance coverage for contraception and those women do not have insurance at all create hidden costs for both insurers and tax payers due to inadequate after birth maternity care, medical complications of abortion increasing emergency medical care costs, and huge social costs of unwanted children.
o me, it is an economic matter of "pay a little now" or "pay a lot later". Since insurance companies are regulated by each State individually, insurers and legislators in each state dictate what is available to the public and what is not. If insurance companies, who are interested only in next quarter’s dividends to stockholders and outrageous executive compensations plans, will not offer coverage, what will low income families do? Unfortunately, 18 states include "refusal clauses", allowing insurers and employers to deny coverage for religious or "moral" reasons. Do we live in a society today that will allow insurance executives, paid lobbyists and politicians to dictate to women what our basic health care rights are? I don’t think so! Even though states refuse to protect the basic health rights of women, the federal legislation has made great strides and yet needs more to bring universal contraceptive coverage to women. I believe there is hope and that progress is being made one step at a time. At the Federal level, in 1998, Planned Parenthood Federation of America won a major legislative victory with the enactment of a contraceptive coverage requirement in the Federal Employees Health Benefits Program. This provision means guaranteed prescription contraceptive drugs are available for all employees of the federal government.
here is currently a bill called The Equity in Prescription Insurance and Contraceptive Coverage Act (EPICC) was first introduced in 1997 by Senator Olympia Snowe and Representative James Greenwood to provide equity in insurance coverage for contraception in the private market. Under this legislation, plans already covering prescription drugs and devices would include equivalent coverage for prescription contraceptive drugs and devices. EPICC was reintroduced in 1999, 2001, 2003, and 2005. In 2007, it was reintroduced as part of the Prevention First Act. A combination of eight separate bills, the Prevention First Act of 2007 would:
require all health plans to cover FDA-approved prescription contraceptives and related medical services
expand access to preventive reproductive health care services and education programs
increase access to family planning services
prevent the spread of sexually transmitted infections (STIs)
give women the tools they need to make the best decisions possible for themselves
he Prevention First Act is the key to getting insurance companies to cover contraceptives. After years of adjustments to the bill, I believe that it is now written in such a way that all parties benefit. It is important that we fight for the right for woman to have equal access to contraceptives, to protect their own heath and well being. It is unfortunate but true that insurance one issue where fedreal government must regulate since the states have not and do not serve the public interest. We can join the fight by supporting and signing local petitions to influence legislators and by voting for bills supporting these concepts in our local elections.
For More Information: Cover My Pills: Fair Access to Contraception www.plannedparenthood.org/health-topics/birth-control-4211.htm
