The Biden administration is proposing a rule that would provide more than $50 million women with access to private insurance over-the-counter birth control pills and other contraceptives at no charge, the White House said Monday.
A rule that expands the federal mandate that requires health insurance that covers preventive care services It is offered at no cost to patients under the Affordable Care Act by the Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor and the Treasury. If finalized, it will enter into force in 2025.
“Once finalized, this rule will expand contraceptive coverage through private health insurance to 52 million women of reproductive age,” White House Gender Policy Council Director Jennifer Klein said during a briefing.
“For the first time, women will be able to get over-the-counter contraception at no extra cost, and health plans will have to cover more prescription contraceptives without cost-sharing,” he said.
Opill of Perrigo Co It is the only daily birth control pill currently approved for over-the-counter sale by the Food and Drug Administration, but the proposed rule would cover other forms of over-the-counter contraceptives, including emergency contraception such as the morning-after pill, spermicides, and birth control pills. control sponges and condoms.
The rule would also require health plans to cover all FDA-approved contraceptive drugs some devices, including IUDsin many cases without cost sharing. It would also require private health plans to disclose to customers that those contraceptives are covered without cost-sharing.
The offer comes in just two weeks Before the 2024 presidential electionsin which abortion rights have been a major issue After the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade in 2022. Democratic Vice President Kamala Harris has made abortion access the centerpiece of her campaign.
Harris highlighted the proposed rule in a White House statement, saying the administration is proposing “the largest expansion of contraception coverage in more than a decade. This new proposed rule will build on our Administration’s work to protect reproductive freedom by providing millions of people with the access they need and deserve.” women with more options for affordable contraception.
The statement also blasted congressional Republicans who have “repeatedly blocked legislation to protect contraceptive rights across the country.”
“As we fight to protect and expand health care, extremist so-called leaders attack reproductive freedom at every turn,” she said.
Former President Donald Trump, Harris’s Republican presidential challenger, boasts of appointing three of the conservative justices who overturned Roe v. Wade, but has since shelved a proposal for a national ban, saying abortion laws should be determined by the states. jeopardizing his chances with swing voters in the November election.