Feds Approve Free Birth Control, Preventive Care for Women
By: Stephanie Sara Chong
The Health and Human Services Department announced new guidelines Monday that will require health insurance companies to provide no-cost birth control and other preventive services for women, starting in August 2012.
In addition to free contraception, patients will also receive free preventive services such as screening for gestational diabetes; human papillomavirus testing for women who are 30 and older; sexually-transmitted infection counseling; HIV screening and counseling; breastfeeding support; and domestic violence counseling.
Monthly co-pays for the pill currently range between $15 to $50, while out-of-pockets costs for intrauterine devices and other methods are hundreds of dollars, according to Planned Parenthood Federation of America.
While women’s rights advocates lauded the decision as a landmark victory, some religious groups cringed at using taxpayer dollars to pay for contraception.
The guidelines exclude religious institutions from having to cover contraception. Yet, conservative groups denounced free birth control, particularly the “morning-after pill,” which prevents implantation of a fertilized egg.
“Pregnancy is not a disease,” the U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops wrote in a statement, “and fertility is not a pathological condition to be suppressed by any means technically possible.”
But family planning groups were quick to hail today as an important step forward.
In a statement, Cecile Richards, President of Planned Parenthood, praised the guidelines as “a historic victory for women’s health and women across the country.”
“There is no doubt that birth control is a basic health care for women,” Dr. Vanessa Cullins, vice president for medical affairs at the organization, said in a statement. “Covering birth control without co-pays is one of the most important steps we can take to prevent unintended pregnancy and keep women and children healthy.”
Almost half of all pregnancies in the U.S. are unplanned, and approximately 40 percent of those result in abortions. Women with unintended pregnancies are less likely to receive prenatal care and more likely to engage in risky behaviors such as smoking and drinking.
The guidelines released Monday adhere to an Institute of Medicine report commissioned by the Obama administration that was released last month. The newly expanded coverage will add to the many other preventive health services that the Affordable Care Act — colloquially known as federal health care reform — will provide for free once implemented in 2014.
“The Affordable Care Act helps stop health problems before they start,” HHS Secretary Kathleen Sebelius said in a statement. “These historic guidelines are based on science and existing literature and will help ensure women get the preventive health benefits they need.”
Recent studies reveal an American public largely supportive of birth control coverage.
Some 77 percent of Americans believe that private medical insurance should provide birth control without co-pays, according to a Thomson-Reuters-NPR Health poll. Some 74 percent believe that government-sponsored plans should do the same.
The overwhelming majority of sexually active women in the United States have used contraception: 99 percent of them, according to a report from Guttmacher Institute. Figures for Catholics are almost equivalent at 98 percent.