POWER TO DECIDE APPLAUDS PROPOSED RULE TO MAKE CONTRACEPTION MORE AFFORDABLE AND ACCESSIBLE

Press release

POWER TO DECIDE APPLAUDS PROPOSED RULE TO MAKE CONTRACEPTION MORE AFFORDABLE AND ACCESSIBLE

October 21, 2024

(WASHINGTON, D.C.) — Today the Biden-Harris administration announced a new proposed rule to significantly improve coverage of contraception. The proposed rule would require insurance plans to cover over-the-counter (OTC) contraceptives — including emergency contraception and Opill, the first OTC daily birth control pill — without a co-pay and without requiring a prescription. Health plans would also be required to disclose to beneficiaries that OTC contraceptives are covered without co-pays and without a prescription. Finally, the new rule also requires insurance plans to cover all contraceptive methods without a therapeutic (generic) equivalent.  

Taken together, the pieces of this new proposed rule would eliminate many of the barriers people currently face when seeking coverage of the contraception they need. The administration estimates that the proposed rule could benefit as many as 52 million women. 

In response to the proposed rule, Power to Decide CEO, Dr. Raegan McDonald-Mosley, issued the following statement:  

“The new proposed rule from the Biden-Harris administration is a huge and welcome step forward, particularly as reproductive health care continues to be under attack. With the arrival of the first daily OTC pill, more people have access to birth control than ever before. As a practicing OB-GYN, I know that access is only meaningful for my patients and others if they can afford that pill. By requiring plans to cover OTC contraceptives without co-pays and without a prescription, the proposed rule makes the promise of OTC birth control real for far more people.  

“Power to Decide also applauds the proposed rule’s requirement to cover all contraceptive methods without a therapeutic equivalent. Our report found that far too many insurance plans are denying coverage for contraceptives despite the requirements of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). With this new requirement, the proposed rule would eliminate much of the need for the cumbersome processes that keep people from being able to get coverage of the contraception they need. 

“Meaningful access to contraception is fundamental to reproductive well-being. We are deeply grateful to the Biden-Harris administration for this proposed rule and believe that it must be finalized and implemented as soon as possible.”   
 

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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.