ICYMI: Biden-Harris Administration Proposes New Action to Significantly Expand Contraception Coverage Under the Affordable Care Act

President Biden and Vice President Harris have protected and built on the Affordable Care Act, which has helped millions of women save billions of dollars on contraception. This week, the Biden-Harris Administration is proposing a rule that would significantly increase coverage of contraception without cost sharing for 52 million women of reproductive age with private health insurance. This proposed rule, if finalized, would be the most significant expansion of contraception coverage under the Affordable Care Act since 2012, when contraception was first required to be covered. The Biden-Harris Administration is issuing this proposed rule at a time when Republican elected officials continue to make clear they want to ban or restrict birth control, defund federal programs that help women access contraception, and repeal the Affordable Care Act. In contrast, President Biden and Vice President Harris will continue to call on Congress to restore the protections of Roe v. Wade in federal law to ensure that women in every state are able to make their own decisions about reproductive health care.

Read more below:

The Washington Post: Biden administration proposes free over-the-counter birth control
[Rachel Roubein and Carolyn Y. Johnson, 10/21/2024]

The White House on Monday plans to propose broadening access to free birth control for people covered by private health insurance plans — a bid that surfaces one of Democrats' most popular issues two weeks before the election.

The proposed rule would mandate that health plans cover over-the-counter birth control — including daily pills, emergency contraceptives and condoms.

[…]

"While we fight to protect and expand health care, extremist so-called leaders are attacking reproductive freedom at every turn," Harris said in a statement. "Republicans in Congress have repeatedly blocked legislation to protect the right to contraception across the country."

The Biden administration's plan would also expand the choice of free birth control, in response to complaints that people seeking a specific kind of birth control often face significant costs since insurers are currently required to cover only one drug within each category of contraception. Under the proposal, insurers would have to cover all approved drugs, unless they have a therapeutic equivalent that is covered, which would lead to more brands of birth control pills and a wider selection of IUDs being available free.

Kristine Lucius, domestic policy adviser to Harris, touted the proposal as "the most significant expansion of contraception coverage under the Affordable Care Act in more than a decade."'

The Affordable Care Act mandates insurance companies cover contraception at no cost, but plans are not required to cover items available over the counter unless the patient has a prescription. Prominent congressional Democrats and reproductive rights advocates have been urging the Biden administration to change the rules.

Reproductive health advocates have said that making contraception easily available is more important than ever in a post-Roe America where most abortions are banned in more than a dozen states. Since the Supreme Court's ruling, far-right conservatives have been attempting to curtail access to some forms of birth control by sowing misinformation about how various methods work, even as GOP leaders scramble to reassure voters they have no intention of restricting contraception.

If finalized, the rule would expand access for 52 million women of reproductive age covered by private health plans, according to the Biden administration.

"We believe that women in every state must have the freedom to make deeply personal health care decisions, including the right to decide if and when to start or grow their family," Biden said in a statement.

CNN: Biden administration to propose expanding access to over-the-counter contraception at no cost
[Donald Judd and Tami Luhby, 10/21/2024]
The Biden administration is set to propose a new rule Monday that would require private insurance plans to cover over-the-counter contraception without a prescription at no cost.
Jen Klein, the director of the White House Gender Policy Council, called the proposal "the most significant expansion of contraception coverage under the Affordable Care Act in more than a decade."
Reproductive health has emerged as a key issue in the race for the White House in the wake of the Supreme Court's 2022 decision overturning Roe v. Wade. Democrats are warning that the decision put access to fertility treatments and contraception at risk in red states across the country. A Democratic-backed measure to codify contraception access failed to pass the Senate in June. […]
"Dangerous and extreme abortion bans are putting women's health and lives at risk and disrupting access to critical health care services, including contraception, as health care providers are forced to close in states across the country," Klein warned on a Friday call with reporters previewing the rule, adding that "Republican elected officials in states have made clear that they plan to ban or restrict birth control in addition to abortion."
The Affordable Care Act requires that most private health plans cover contraception with no cost-sharing. But insurers are allowed to require a prescription for over-the-counter contraception at no cost.
Under the proposed rule, women would not need a prescription to obtain at no cost over-the-counter contraception, such as the Plan B emergency contraceptive, spermicide and Opill, the first nonprescription daily oral contraceptive approved by the Food and Drug Administration, an administration official said.
The proposed rule would also mandate insurers cover all FDA-approved drugs and drug-led combination products, unless the plans also cover a therapeutic equivalent. Therapeutic equivalents, according to the FDA, are drugs that contain an identical amount of the same active ingredient. Currently, insurers have to cover only one drug per category of contraception — whether it is birth control pills, implants or IUDs — leading some women to have trouble accessing the specific combination of drugs in the type of prescription contraceptive they want, the official said.
The proposed rule would affect an estimated 52 million women of reproductive age with private insurance plans, according to the official.
"Since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade, reproductive health care has been under attack," Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra told reporters Friday. "That means preventative services like contraception are more important than ever. And when health care plans and issuers impose unduly burdensome administrative or cost sharing requirements for services, access to contraceptives becomes even more difficult."
The New York Times: Biden to Propose That Insurers Cover Over-the-Counter Birth Control
[Sheryl Gay Stolberg, 10/21/2024]

The White House announced on Monday that it would propose new rules under the Affordable Care Act that would require insurers to cover over-the-counter birth control at no cost to patients, as it seeks to expand access to contraception and cut out-of-pocket costs.
The rules would include emergency contraception, a newly approved nonprescription birth control pill, spermicides and condoms and would affect 52 million American women of reproductive age who rely on private health insurance. They will be subject to a 60-day public comment period and, if finalized, would represent "the most significant expansion of contraception benefits" in more than a decade, said Jennifer Klein, the director of the White House Gender Policy Council.
The proposal comes just two weeks before the election as Democrats, including Vice President Kamala Harris, make the case that the threat to reproductive rights extends beyond the Supreme Court's 2022 decision, in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization, that eliminated the national right to abortion.
"At a time when contraception access is under attack, Vice President Harris and I are resolute in our commitment to expanding access to quality, affordable contraception," President Biden said in a statement. "We believe that women in every state must have the freedom to make deeply personal health care decisions, including the right to decide if and when to start or grow their family."
The court ruled in that case that the "right to privacy" did not confer a right to abortion. In his concurring opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas said the same rationale should be used to overturn other "demonstrably erroneous decisions" that relied on a right to privacy, including Griswold v. Connecticut, a 1965 case declaring that married couples had a right to contraception. […]
The Affordable Care Act requires that most private health plans cover contraception without "cost sharing," or co-payments, but the provision applies only to prescription birth control pills, which were not available when President Barack Obama signed the measure into law in 2010. Last year the Food and Drug Administration for the first time approved an over-the-counter birth control pill, called Opill.
In anticipation of that announcement, President Biden issued an executive order directing federal agencies, including the Department of Health and Human Services, to consider how to expand access to over-the-counter birth control. Monday's proposed rule flows from that directive. […]
NPR: Biden administration proposes a rule to make over-the-counter birth control free
[Chandelis Duster, 10/21/2024]

The Biden administration is proposing a rule that would expand access to contraceptive products, including making over-the-counter birth control and condoms free for the first time for women of reproductive age who have private health insurance.

Under the proposal by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Labor Department, and Treasury Department, which was announced by the administration on Monday, health insurance companies would be required to cover all recommended over-the-counter contraception products, such as condoms, spermicide and emergency contraception, without a prescription and at no cost, according to senior administration officials.

The proposed rule comes as the Biden administration seeks to expand access to contraceptives and as other reproductive health, including access to abortion, has become a central issue in the 2024 presidential election campaign. Republican-led states have restricted access to abortion since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. About half of states now ban or severely restrict abortion, which has coincided with steep declines in prescriptions for birth control and emergency contraception in those states.

HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said when health care insurers impose burdensome administrative or cost sharing requirements for services, "access to contraceptives become even more difficult."

"We have heard from women who need a specific brand of birth control but the cost of their prescription isn't covered by their health insurance. We have made clear that in all 50 states the Affordable Care Act guarantees coverage of women's preventive services without cost sharing, including all birth control methods approved by the Food and Drug Administration," Becerra told reporters. "This proposed rule will build on the progress we have already made under the Affordable Care Act to help ensure that more women can access the contraceptive services they need without out-of-pocket costs."
Reuters: Biden administration proposes free over-the-counter birth control
[Ahmed Aboulenein, 10/21/2024]

The Biden administration is proposing a rule that would provide women with private insurance access to over-the-counter birth control pills and other contraceptives at no cost, the White House said on Monday.

The rule, which expands a federal mandate requiring health insurers to cover preventative care services at no cost to patients under the Affordable Care Act, is being proposed by the Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor, and the Treasury and would come into effect in 2025 if finalized.

"This rule, once finalized, will expand contraception coverage for 52 million women of reproductive age with private health insurance," White House Gender Policy Council Director Jennifer Klein said during a briefing.

"For the first time ever, women would be able to obtain over-the-counter contraception without a prescription at no additional cost, and health plans would have to cover even more prescribed contraceptives without cost sharing," she said. […]

Bloomberg: Biden Aims to Expand Free Birth Control Access as Election Nears
[Riley Griffin, 10/21/2024]

President Joe Biden's administration unveiled a proposal that would require private health plans to cover over-the-counter contraception at no additional cost to consumers.

The Food and Drug Administration last year granted the first US clearance for an OTC daily oral birth control product, yet Periggo Co.'s  Opill — available in stores and for online order since March — has been prohibitive for many at $19.99 per month.

[…]

Biden administration officials told reporters they've documented a large number of complaints about women who are unable to access contraceptives with higher out-of-pocket costs. 

"Today, our administration is proposing the largest expansion of contraception coverage in more than a decade," Harris said in a statement Monday. "President Biden and I stand with the majority of Americans – Republicans and Democrats alike – who support access to contraception."

In an effort to expand access to affordable products, the proposal by the departments of Health and Human Services, Labor and Treasury would require private health insurance plans to cover daily over-the-counter birth control pills and emergency contraception without a prescription with no additional cost-sharing by consumers. […]