The Biden-Harris administration announced Monday that it wants to force insurance companies to cover over-the-counter birth control and the morning after pill under proposed amendments to the Affordable Care Act, or Obamacare. Contraceptives would be available free of charge to subscribers, The New York Times is reporting.
With just over two weeks to go before the presidential and Congressional elections, the Biden-Harris plan would cover a host of contraceptives under the policy, including emergency contraception, a newly approved non prescription birth control pill, spermicides and condoms. The changes would impact 52 million American women of child-bearing age who pay for private health insurance. They will be subject to a 60-day public comment period that White House Gender Policy Council chief Jennifer Klein called “the most significant expansion of contraception benefits” in more than a decade, according to The Times.
The proposal is designed to lend itself to Democratic presidential candidate Vice President Kamala Harris’ decision to make abortion and contraceptive key issues in a platform that isn’t crowded with kitchen table issues. “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 Joe 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 Affordable Care Act already mandates most private health plans to cover contraception without deductibles but this is applicable only to prescription birth control pills. Non-prescription birth control pills did not exist when Obamacare was signed into law in 2010. In 2023, the Food and Drug Administration approved the first over-the-counter birth control pill, called Opill.
The Biden-Harris administration recently issued an executive order directing federal agencies, including the Department of Health and Human Services, look for ways to provide more non-prescription contraceptives, The Times noted, and Monday’s announcement is part of that order.
