"Contraceptive coverage" refers to the availability and inclusion of various methods of birth control in health insurance plans. It means that the insurance plan covers and helps pay for contraception, such as birth control pills, implants, IUDs, and other methods to prevent pregnancy.
Full definition
The policy goes into effect on August 1, but U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius announced in a statement January 20 that religious organizations that do not
provide contraceptive coverage based on religious belief will have until August 1, 2013, to comply.
A Missouri law enacted over Gov. Jay Nixon's veto reiterates long - standing policy allowing employers, insurers or enrollees to opt out of the state's
contraceptive coverage mandate because of a religious objection, but attempts to expand it by incorporating an exemption from the federal mandate included in the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
On Wednesday, Rush Limbaugh blasted Sandra Fluke, a Georgetown law student who testified before Congress in favor of
contraceptive coverage in health plans, as a «slut» and a «prostitute.»
Members then passed the Comprehensive Contraception Coverage Act, which would require all health insurers provide cost -
free contraceptive coverage as a part of their insurance policies, by a similar margin.
With the threat to the federal
contraceptive coverage guarantee looming large since the November 2016 elections, policymakers in 25 states proposed measures to preserve — and in many cases even expand — access to contraception through insurance plans (see States Must Act to Shore Up the Federal Contraceptive Coverage Guarantee).
The mandate
for contraceptive coverage is part of the Affordable Care Act, which Republicans in Congress so far have failed to repeal or at the very least overhaul on narrow grounds.
Planned Parenthood also released a survey on the rule Tuesday; it found that 53 % of Catholics think that women employed by Catholic hospitals and universities should have the same rights to
contraceptive coverage as other women.
«There is an ongoing national debate about
contraceptive coverage requirements in private health plans in the U.S.,» says lead author Michelle Moniz, M.D., an OB / GYN and researcher at the University of Michigan Medical School and Robert Wood Johnson Foundation clinical scholar.
At issue: The Obama administration's a new rule that mandates a full range
of contraceptive coverage by health insurance, including birth control, the so - called «morning - after pill» and sterilization services.
«Twenty states offer exemptions
from contraceptive coverage (usually for religion) for insurers or employers in their policies: Arizona, Arkansas, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Michigan, Missouri, Nevada, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Texas and West Virginia.»
The administration is especially interested in the Hawaii model, in which female employees of religious institutions can purchase
contraceptive coverage directly from the insurer at the same price offered to employees of all other employers.
Catholic News Agency: Few Catholic colleges freely choose to cover birth control, group says An analysis by the Cardinal Newman Society shows that most Catholic colleges
offering contraceptive coverage do so because of a state mandate or medical reasons but not for birth control purposes.
The White House seems to have assuaged the concerns of liberal and moderate religious voices, particularly Catholics, who complained that the U.S. Health and Human Services mandate
on contraceptive coverage violated religious freedom of conscience.
The priest sex - abuse scandal, a Vatican crackdown on nuns, a head - knocking fight with the president of the United States
over contraceptive coverage - none of these would qualify as good news.
In the highest - profile of 60 lawsuits of this nature, the retail - craft giant asked the Tenth Circuit Court of Appeals for an exemption from the HHS mandate Thursday, arguing that for - profit business owners «shouldn't face fines for not complying with
mandatory contraceptive coverage simply because their business makes a profit.»
Meanwhile,
contraceptive coverage became an issue in the Republican presidential primary, prompting a quicker - than - average Mitt Romney flip - flop, and a Republican - sponsored repeal of the rule rose in the Senate (it died 51 - 48).
The US Supreme Court closed out its latest session Monday with a flurry of decisions on everything from Hobby
Lobby contraceptive coverage to cell phone searches.
The bill would also apply to voluntary sterilization procedures for both men and women, and would prohibit insurance companies from unduly
delaying contraceptive coverage.
Voted down tonight in Senate ❌ Keep preexisting conditions protection ❌ Let young adults stay on parents plan ❌ Keep contraceptive coverage
Controversy has emerged in the US, where many news outlets, including the Washington Post, reported a key part of President Barack Obama's healthcare law was struck down by the US Supreme Court, with the ruling that family - owned businesses do not have to offer their
employees contraceptive coverage if it conflicts with the owners» religious beliefs.
But should it survive — and Planned Parenthood advocates intend to do everything in our power to make sure that happens — the
popular contraceptive coverage provision will likely be targeted.
So far this year, Maine and Nevada strengthened their
existing contraceptive coverage guarantees; they both adopted measures prohibiting cost sharing for contraception, including sterilization for women, and requiring insurance coverage for an extended supply of contraceptive methods at one time.
CNN: Key Catholic group drops support for White House contraception plan The Obama administration's key Catholic ally on its controversial plan to require health insurers to provide
free contraceptive coverage is dropping support for the plan, potentially complicating the president's relations with Catholics in an election year.
Women could benefit greatly from the Affordable Care Act's mandate
for contraceptive coverage, according to Penn State College of Medicine researchers.
The all - male, clerical - heavy line - up was speaking before Rep. Darrell Issa's House hearing on the Obama administration's new policy requiring
contraceptive coverage in new health insurance policies, with a small exemption for churches that object.
«Planned Parenthood also released a survey on the HHS rule Tuesday; it found that 53 % of Catholics think that women employed by Catholic hospitals and universities should have the same rights to
contraceptive coverage as other women.»
For instance, the Hobby Lobby case and other challenges to the ACA's
contraceptive coverage guarantee have been driven by false claims that EC pills and IUDs cause abortion.
The mandate for free
contraceptive coverage was one of the most contested polices under the Affordable Care Act and generated many lawsuits by employers that cited religious objections.
Closely held corporations with religious objections to
contraceptive coverage were exempt as a result of the Hobby Lobby decision in June 2014, until the Administration issued new regulations in July 2015.
Other anti-abortion and anti-contraception advocates currently helping to set policy in the Trump administration include Katy Talento, an adviser on health care who once wrote that hormonal birth control could «ruin your uterus for baby - hosting,» and Matthew Bowman, who reportedly helped write the Trump administration's regulations weakening
the contraceptive coverage mandate.
He also said the issue has been thoroughly vetted and that it's «highly uncertain» that
contraceptive coverage would be taken away from anyone who currently has it.
But when it claims that the «free»
contraceptive coverage can be afforded by the insurer because «cost - savings» will result from «improvements in women's health and fewer childbirths,» the administration is admitting that the contraception is already being paid for by the employer, if its policy covers childbirth and women's health in general.