Birth Control

What does birth control without co-pays mean for you?

Tell us — what does it mean to you that you will get birth control with no co-pays or deductibles?

Has cost ever kept you from using the method of birth control that's best for you? Has it forced you to make tough choices, like going without birth control or even delaying paying a bill so you can afford it?

Thanks to the health care law, new insurance plans are required to cover birth control and other women's preventive health services with no co-payments or deductibles at the start of their next plan year. As more health plans come under the law's reach, more and more women will be able to keep their wallets closed when they pick up their birth control.

Tell us — what does it mean to you that you will get birth control with no co-pays or deductibles? Read more »

The New York Times today reports that single women’s votes may be key to this year’s presidential election. “Single women are one of the country’s fastest-growing demographic groups — there are 1.8 million more now than just two years ago,” the Times explains. “They make up a quarter of the voting-age population nationally, and even more in several swing states, including Nevada.” But single women have traditionally registered and turned out to vote at relatively low rates, which means their full political power remains untapped.

It’s time to change that. The results of the presidential, congressional, and state elections this year will shape single women’s lives in a host of ways. The elections will determine whether single mothers receive the supports they need to make ends meet. They will determine whether women’s insurance covers contraception without a co-pay. The elections will determine whether the economy will work for single women who have experienced extremely high rates of unemployment through the recession and recovery and whether policymakers will prioritize fair pay for women. Read more »

This week, I’ve thought a lot about what I could do with an extra $720. Why? Because a few years ago, I was shelling out $60 a month in co-pays, which added up to $720 spent over the course of the year. For a student subsisting on a work-study job salary, this was pretty major. Read more »

A few months ago, I saw a post on Facebook saying that birth control only costs women $10 a month, so we don’t need to get it for free. This video blog has been percolating inside of me ever since. Let’s put aside the issue that the health care law is not providing free birth control (the law requires insurance plans to provide preventive services with no cost sharing), and talk about what the real cost of birth control is for women. The monthly costs of birth control—plus their annual visit with their ob/gyn to get their prescription—can add up to hundreds of dollars a year with health insurance. Watch my blog post and learn how the costs of birth control add up and what those costs mean for women and their families.

I have learned in the last few weeks about a new great threat to America’s national security and infrastructure. Perhaps you did too?

According to Congressional opponents of women’s reproductive health, birth control is going to destroy the Naval fleet and kill 2403 people. A woman getting an abortion will infiltrate our most secure databases and bring down our computer systems. And, abortion will have something to do with damage from rising waters . . . . . I can’t even come up with a snarky line for the last one.

If this all sounds outrageous, it is. Yet, yesterday, Rep. Mike Kelly (PA) compared the health care reform law’s coverage of contraception with no co-pay to Pearl Harbor. He even called its start date a “day that will live in infamy.” Read more »

Yes to Birth Control. No to Co-Pays.

Tell your Members of Congress you support women's access to preventive health services without co-pays or deductibles.

Women's lives are about to get a little easier (and less expensive). Thanks to the health care law, today a provision goes into effect requiring birth control and other preventive services that women need be covered without a co-payment or a deductible! Over time, as an increasing number of new plans come under the law's reach, more women could have access to these services with no extra cost.

Tell your Members of Congress today how much this means to you and that you support women's access to preventive health services without co-pays or deductibles.

The preventive health services included in new plans are: well-woman visits, breastfeeding assistance and supplies, domestic violence counseling, screening for gestational diabetes, testing for high-risk strains of HPV, screening for sexually transmitted infections including HIV, and all FDA-approved methods of contraception. Read more »

This month, I returned to the National Women’s Law Center after more than 10 years, and found myself dropped into one of the most critical fights of the day: protecting the contraceptive coverage benefit established in health care reform. While I am still amazed that people are attacking family planning in the year 2012, part of me cannot help but marvel at how far we have come. Read more »

Yesterday, the National Women's Law Center submitted comments on the Administration's proposed "accommodation" for organizations that have religious objections to covering contraception in their health insurance plans for employees. In our comments, we state that the priority in structuring the accommodation must be to ensure women have seamless access to contraception no matter where they are employed or enrolled as university students.

The backstory: back in August of last year, the Administration announced that contraception would be one of the eight women's preventive services that insurance plans would have to start covering without cost sharing in August of 2012. When the announcement was made, the Administration also announced a religious exemption to the rule requiring insurance plans to cover contraception. Those of us at the Law Center thought that the exemption should be eliminated completely as it has no basis under law and arbitrarily precludes certain women from having their needed preventive care. However, other groups complained that the exemption should be expanded to include hospitals and universities.

After receiving over 200,000 comments on the issue, the Administration announced in January that it was not changing the exemption. With a sustained backlash from certain groups and media outlets (culminating in the infamous Where Are the Women hearing, which denied Sandra Fluke the opportunity to testify), the Administration announced an "accommodation" to the requirement. Read more »

Your Voice is Crucial

Tell HHS all women deserve access to birth control without a co-pay!

Forty-seven years ago today, the Supreme Court's landmark decision in Griswold v. Connecticut established a right to use contraceptives without interference from the state. It's hard to believe that nearly a half century later, politicians are still trying to erect barriers to women's access to affordable birth control.

Tell the Department of Health and Human Services that all women, no matter where they work or go to school, need access to birth control without co-pays or burdensome obstacles.

Last summer, we secured a big victory when all FDA-approved contraceptives were added to the list of preventive health services that all new health insurance plans must cover without a co-pay or deductible. Unfortunately, 335,000 houses of worship received an exemption from the requirement, leaving their female employees without access to this critical benefit.

Now the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has proposed an "accommodation" for other religiously affiliated organizations, which would shift the responsibility of providing contraceptive coverage without cost sharing to the insurance companies. HHS is asking for comments and we must make sure that any "accommodation" does not put additional hurdles in the path of women seeking contraception. Employees of religiously affiliated organizations must have access to contraception to the same extent as employees of other organizations and companies. Read more »

This blog post is a part of NWLC’s Mother’s Day 2012 blog series. For all our Mother’s Day posts, please click here.

Many of my friends will celebrate their first Mother’s Day being a mom this year. Others have recently expanded their families or have a first child on the way.

I’m happy that all these kids were born after the health care law was passed – because that means my friends can be secure that their kids will have access to health care. That includes my friend Robyn, whose son Jax had to have heart surgery when he was only three months old. Without the health care law, Robyn would have to worry about Jax hitting a lifetime limit on his insurance or being denied coverage for having a pre-existing condition.

The health care law also improves the health of women – like my friend Robyn and all my friends who are new moms.

Preventive Care with No Cost Sharing for New and Expecting Moms

All new health plans are already providing preventive services – such as cancer, diabetes and hypertension screenings – with no cost sharing. Starting this August, the list of preventive services will expand to cover women’s health services including many services important to expecting and new moms. These services include:

• Prenatal Care: Testing for gestational diabetes without cost sharing and a well-woman visit including prenatal care means that expecting moms will know what steps they need to take to have a healthy pregnancy.
• Breastfeeding Support and Supplies: New moms will have access to lactation counseling and rental of breastfeeding supplies without copays or deductibles. In addition to the preventive services, employers are now required to provide a clean space—that is not a bathroom—for new moms to pump.
• Contraceptive Coverage: The full range of FDA-approved contraceptive coverage, including birth control pills, rings, implants, tubal ligation and more will be provided by plans without cost sharing. This is important to new moms because birth control helps women plan pregnancies so moms can access preconception and prenatal care and space pregnancies to help have a healthy baby.

Read more »