Free means free.
The Obama administration said Monday that health plans must offer for free at least one of every type of prescription birth control — clarifying regulations that left some insurers misinterpreting the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive mandate.
A NuvaRing contraceptive (Photo by Sandy Huffaker/Getty Images)
“Today’s guidance seeks to eliminate any ambiguity,” the Health and Human Services Department said. “Insurers must cover without cost-sharing at least one form of contraception in each of the methods that the Food and Drug Administration has identified … including the ring, the patch and intrauterine devices.”
The ruling comes after reports by the Kaiser Family Foundation and the National Women’s Law Center, an advocacy group, found many insurers were not providing no-cost birth control for all prescription methods. (KHN is an editorially independent project of the Kaiser Family Foundation.)
Gretchen Borchelt, a vice president with the women’s law center, applauded the guidance.
“Insurance companies have been breaking the law and, today, the Obama administration underscored that it will not tolerate these violations,” she said. “It is now absolutely clear that ‘all’ means ‘all’— ‘all’ unique birth control methods for women must be covered.”
The law requires that preventive services, such as contraception and well-woman visits, be covered without out-of-pocket expenses, such as a co-pay or deductible.
While HHS said insurers must offer for free at least one version of all 18 FDA approved contraceptives, the plans may still charge fees to encourage individuals to use a particular brand or generic. For example, a generic form might be free, while a brand name version of the drug can include cost sharing, HHS said.
The administration Monday said insurers could have misinterpreted prior rules to mean they only had to offer certain types of contraception without cost-sharing. Plans have until July to implement the policy, which will generally not take effect until a new plan year begins. That means for most people the new rule will start in January.
The CEO of trade group America’s Health Insurance Plans, Karen Ignagni, said she was pleased the guidance allows insurers to practice “medical management”— meaning they can charge a co-pay or deductible for some birth control rather than have to provide all brands for free, which would increase costs.
Cecile Richards, president of Planned Parenthood Action Fund, the political arm of Planned Parenthood of America, thanked the administration.
“This is a victory for women and the more than 30,000 Planned Parenthood supporters who spoke out to ensure all women, no matter what insurance they have, can access the full range of birth control methods without a copay or other barriers,” she said. “We know that increased access to birth control has helped bring teen pregnancy rates to a 40-year low and we must continue to drive forward policies that build on this progress.”
The Kaiser study — which looked at a sample of 20 insurers in five states — found one that simply didn’t cover the birth control ring (NuvaRing) at all and four that “couldn’t ascertain” whether they covered such birth control implants. More commonly, insurers would restrict access to certain contraceptives when they believed a cheaper, equally effective way for patients to get the same treatment was available.
The report by the health law center, which analyzed coverage from 100 insurance companies during 2014 and 2015, found that 15 plans in seven states failed to cover all FDA-approved methods of birth control. Among the companies named as not complying with the law’s requirements in some states are Aetna, Cigna, Physicians Plus and Anthem Blue Cross Blue Shield.
The insurance industry disputes the report’s conclusions that the problem is widespread. “This report presents a distorted picture of reality,” Ignagni said at the time.
