Contraceptive Access in Vermont

(Washington, D.C.) Newly-released data from Power to Decide reveals 17,740 women living at or below 250% of the poverty level in Vermont live in contraceptive deserts, counties that lack reasonable access to a health center offering the full range of contraceptive methods. More than 19 million women in need live in such areas across the United States.

“Well over 17,000 women in Vermont must overcome significant barriers to get the birth control they need and deserve in order to decide if, when and under what circumstances to get pregnant and have a child,” said Power to Decide CEO Raegan McDonald-Mosley, MD, MPH. “For women already struggling to make ends meet, the costs associated with getting to the nearest health center that offers the birth control that works best for them – transportation and childcare costs, combined with unpaid time off from work – can easily become too much to manage.”

Vermont has made meaningful progress when it comes to improving access to reproductive health care by expanding Medicaid coverage to low-income adults and requiring insurers to cover the full range of contraceptive methods without cost-sharing as well as a 12-month supply of prescription contraceptives dispensed at one time. Vermont pharmacists are now allowed to prescribe birth control, which could be particularly beneficial for those who are younger or uninsured.

Visit Power to Decide for state-by-state information on these and other reproductive health access policies.

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Power to Decide is a nonprofit, nonpartisan organization that works to advance sexual and reproductive well-being for all by providing trusted information, expanding access to quality services, and catalyzing culture change.