MONDAY, Oct. 21, 2024 (HealthDay News) -- Health insurers would be required to cover the cost of over-the-counter birth control and emergency contraception under new rules proposed by the White House on Monday.

"Since Roe v. Wade was overturned more than two years ago, Republican elected officials have made clear they want to ban or restrict birth control, defund federal programs that help women access contraception, and repeal the Affordable Care Act," President Joe Biden said in a statement on the proposed rules. "And Congressional Republicans have repeatedly blocked federal legislation to safeguard the fundamental right to birth control for women in every state. It’s unacceptable."

"Today, my Administration is taking a major step to expand contraception coverage under the Affordable Care Act. This new action would help ensure that millions of women with private health insurance can access the no-cost contraception they need," he added.

The proposal would include emergency contraception, a newly approved nonprescription birth control pill, spermicides and condoms, and the change would affect 52 million American women of reproductive age who rely on private health insurance.

To help guarantee that women know of this new benefit, most private health plans would be required to disclose that over-the-counter contraception is covered without copayments, the White House noted.

"Today, our Administration is proposing the largest expansion of contraception coverage in more than a decade. This new proposed rule will build on our Administration’s work to protect reproductive freedom by providing millions of women with more options for the affordable contraception they need and deserve," Vice President Kamala Harris said in a statement on the proposal. "That includes coverage for no-cost over-the-counter contraception without a prescription for the first time in our nation’s history."

If finalized, the proposed rules would represent “the most significant expansion of contraception benefits” in more than a decade, Jennifer Klein, director of the White House Gender Policy Council, told the New York Times.

The Affordable Care Act already requires that most private health plans cover contraception without copayments, but that only applies to prescription birth control pills. But last year, the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved the first over-the-counter birth control pill, called Opill.

The proposed rules will undergo a 60-day comment period before being enacted.

More information

The National Library of Medicine has more on birth control.

SOURCES: White House, news release, Oct. 21,2024; New York Times

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