Washington, D.C. – In a letter to Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Burwell, Congresswoman Suzanne Bonamici (OR-01), Congresswoman Lois Capps (CA-24), and Congresswoman Rosa DeLauro (CT-03) expressed support for new guidelines clarifying full coverage for all FDA-approved contraceptive methods.
The new requirements come after the National Women’s Law Center and the Kaiser Family Foundation found that some health insurers did not cover some types of birth control as required under the Affordable Care Act. Under the new guidelines, at least one kind of birth control from each of the 18 FDA-approved birth control methods must be covered.
The letter, signed by 70 House members, also asks the Secretary to increase consumer education and awareness of the women’s health benefits in the ACA and to encourage states to enforce compliance.
“Insurance companies should not overrule a woman’s reproductive health care choices,” Congresswoman Bonamici said. “I am pleased with the department’s new rules, which will provide women with more reproductive options and in turn greater economic freedom. The Affordable Care Act acknowledges the critical economic role reproductive health plays in the lives of women, and I encourage Secretary Burwell to continue to support the ACA’s benefits to women.”
“Women have the right to make their own personal health care decisions, and these new clarifying guidelines will ensure that women have access to all reproductive health care options as they and their health care provider decide what is best for them,” Congresswoman Capps said. “Under the Affordable Care Act, all forms of birth control methods must be covered by health insurers and I am pleased that HHS has eliminated any uncertainty or confusion with these guidelines. I will continue to work with my colleagues to ensure women have every opportunity to make their own personal health care decisions.”
“The rules prohibiting cost-sharing on preventive care, including contraception, are clear and insurers who are not following them are in violation of the law,” Congresswoman DeLauro said. “The Affordable Care Act was intended, and is beginning, to transform our health care system, expand access to care and better the lives of Americans. A key part of that was putting women’s health care on equal footing with men’s to ensure that future generations of American women will lead healthier, more productive lives. I applaud Secretary Burwell for the steps she has taken thus far and look forward to continuing to work with her to ensure women have the crucial preventive services they need.”
May 13, 2015
The Honorable Sylvia Mathews Burwell Secretary
Department of Health and Human Services
200 Independence Ave SW
Washington, D.C. 20201
Dear Secretary Burwell:
As strong advocates for improving access to women’s health care, we are writing to offer our support for the new guidance on the birth control benefit that aims to ensure insurers’ compliance with the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) requirement to provide full coverage for all FDA-approved contraceptive methods with no copay.
Reducing unintended pregnancies through increased access to contraception is a worthy goal and we applaud the recent decision by HHS to include all FDA-approved methods of contraception as preventive services under the ACA. This important decision will allow women across the country to access their contraceptive of choice with no out-of-pocket cost other than their monthly premium.
In 2014, 67 percent of privately insured U. S. women accessed an oral contraceptive with no-copay, up from 15 percent in 2012, according to a Guttmacher Institute study published in the journal Contraception. Similar trends were seen with women using injectable contraceptives, rings, and IUDs. Studies have shown that when contraception is covered by insurance, women choose to use longer, more effective forms of contraception, experiencing fewer unplanned pregnancies as a result.
Although more women are now able to access contraception without a copay, insurers continue to create barriers. Some insurers are not covering all FDA-approved methods. Additionally, through the use of so-called “reasonable medical management,” insurers are restricting access to long-acting birth control and steering women away from accessing their contraceptive method of choice. Determining which method of contraception is right for a woman is a personal decision that should be made with her doctor.
We strongly support the newly-issued guidance to clarify the scope of the requirement and ensure that women have reliable and meaningful access to their contraceptive method of choice.
The Department of Health and Human Services should be closely monitoring and ensuring compliance with the law, and working with all stakeholders to reach that end.
Specifically, we request that you:
- Increase consumer education and awareness of the women’s health benefits of the ACA, specifically contraception; and
- Proactively encourage states to properly enforce compliance, and ensure that local stakeholders and states develop plans of action for compliance.
We look forward to working with you on this issue to provide women with these crucial preventive services.
