By Ahmed Aboulenein
WASHINGTON (Reuters) – The Biden administration is proposing a rule that would give women free access to over-the-counter birth control pills and other contraceptives, the White House said.
The rule, which expands a federal mandate that requires health insurers to cover free preventive care services for patients under the Affordable Care Act, is proposed by the Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor and the Treasury Department and would take effect in 2011. 2025, if completed.
“Once finalized, this rule will expand contraceptive coverage to 52 million women of childbearing age with private health insurance,” Jennifer Klein, director of the White House Gender Policy Council, said at a briefing.
“For the first time ever, women would be able to obtain contraceptives over the counter without a prescription and at no additional cost, and health plans would have to cover even more prescription contraceptives without cost sharing,” she said.
Perrigo Co.’s Opill is currently the only daily contraceptive pill approved for sale without a prescription by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, but the proposed rule also applies to other forms of over-the-counter contraceptives, including emergency contraception such as the morning-after pill Plan B., spermicide products, sponges for contraception and condoms.
The rule will also require health plans to cover all FDA-approved contraceptives and some devices, including IUDs, without cost sharing in many cases.
The rule will also require health plans to cover any FDA-approved contraceptive or drug-directed combination product, such as IUDs, without cost sharing, unless the plan also covers a therapeutic equivalent without cost sharing, and would require plans to to disclose those over-the-counter contraceptives. are covered by cost sharing or prescription.
The proposal comes just two weeks before the 2024 presidential election, in which abortion rights have been a key issue following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn Roe v Wade in 2022. Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic candidate, has put abortion access at the center of the fight against abortion. her campaign.
Republican rival former President Donald Trump has bragged about appointing three of the conservative judges who handed down the ruling, but has since said abortion laws should be determined by US states and stopped short of proposing a national ban that would undermine his chances with swing voters in November. election.
(Reporting by Ahmed Aboulenein; Editing by Marguerita Choy)
