Millions of people with private health insurance could get condoms, the morning-after pill and birth control pills for free, under a new rule the White House proposed Monday.
Currently, health insurance must cover the cost of prescription contraceptives and condoms for those who have a prescription. But the new rule would expand that coverage, allowing millions of people with private health insurance to buy condoms, birth control pills or morning-after pills for free at local stores without a prescription.
The proposal comes days before the presidential elections in the United States, when Vice President Kamala Harris has placed special emphasis on expanding access to health care for women following the Supreme Court’s decision to overturn the right to abortion in the whole country. Harris has tried to create a clear contrast with her Republican rival, Donald Trump, who named some of the judges who issued that ruling in 2022.
“The proposed rule we announced today would expand access to contraception at no additional cost to millions of consumers,” Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra said in a statement. “Bottom line: Women should have control over their personal healthcare decisions. And issuers and suppliers have the obligation to comply with the law.”
Emergency contraceptives that people with private insurance could access at no cost include levonorgestrel, a pill that must be taken immediately after sex to prevent pregnancy and is more commonly known by the brand name Plan B.
Without a prescription, women can pay up to $50 for a package of pills. And women who delay purchasing the drug to obtain a prescription may jeopardize the drug’s effectiveness, since it is more likely to prevent pregnancy within 72 hours of sexual intercourse.
The new rule would be implemented in 2025 and would also require insurers to cover the full cost of Opill, a once-daily, over-the-counter birth control pill that the U.S. Food and Drug Administration approved last year. . A one-month supply of pills costs $20.
Federal mandates for private health insurance to cover contraceptive care were first introduced with the Affordable Care Act, which required plans to assume the cost of FDA-approved contraceptives that had been prescribed by a doctor as preventive service.
The proposed rule would not affect beneficiaries of Medicaid, the insurance program for the poorest Americans. States are largely free to design their own rules around Medicaid coverage for contraception, and few cover over-the-counter methods like Plan B or condoms.
