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Washington — People with private health insurance would be able to pick up over-the-counter birth control methods like condoms, the “morning after” pill and birth control pills for free under a rule the White House proposed Monday.
Right now, health insurers must cover the cost of prescribed contraception, including birth control or even condoms that doctors have issued a prescription for. But the new rule would expand that coverage, enabling millions of people on private health insurance to pick up free condoms, birth control pills or “morning after” pills from local storefronts without a prescription.
The proposal comes days before Election Day, as Vice President Harris affixes her presidential campaign to a promise of expanding women’s health care access in the wake of the U.S. Supreme Court’s decision to undo nationwide abortion rights two years ago. Harris has sought to craft a distinct contrast from her Republican challenger, Donald Trump, who appointed some of the justices who issued that ruling.
“Today’s announcement builds on the Biden-Harris Administration’s strong record of defending access to reproductive health care and commitment to ensuring that women have the freedom to make deeply personal health care decisions, including if and when to start or grow their family,” Jennifer Klein, the director of the White House Gender Policy Council, said in a statement.
Klein said the administration “is taking bold action to expand coverage of contraception for the 52 million women of reproductive age with private health insurance.”
The emergency contraceptives that people on private insurance would be able to access without costs include levonorgestrel, a pill that needs to be taken immediately after sex to prevent pregnancy and is more commonly known by the brand name “Plan B.”
Without a doctor’s prescription, women may pay as much as $50 for a pack of the pills. And women who delay buying the medication in order to get a doctor’s prescription could jeopardize the pill’s effectiveness, since it’s most likely to prevent a pregnancy within 72 hours after sex.
If implemented, the new rule would also require insurers to fully bear the cost of the once-a-day Opill, a new over-the-counter birth control pill that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved last year. A one-month supply of the pills costs $20.
Federal mandates for private health insurance to cover contraceptive care were first introduced with the Affordable Care Act, which required plans to pick up the cost of FDA-approved birth control that had been prescribed by a doctor as a preventative service.
The proposed rule expands on that mandate.
It’s being proposed by the Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and the Treasury and would come into effect in 2025 if finalized, the Reuters news agency reports.
It wouldn’t impact people on Medicaid, the insurance program for the poorest Americans. States are largely left to design their own rules around Medicaid coverage for contraception, and few cover over-the-counter methods like Plan B or condoms.
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