The Biden administration is proposing a rule that would expand access to contraceptive products, including making over-the-counter birth control and condoms free for the first time for women of reproductive age who have private health insurance.
Under the proposal by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), Labor Department, and Treasury Department, which was announced by the administration on Monday, health insurance companies would be required to cover all recommended over-the-counter contraception products, such as condoms, spermicide and emergency contraception, without a prescription and at no cost, according to senior administration officials.
It would also require private health insurance providers to notify recipients about the covered over-the-counter products.
The proposed rule comes as the Biden administration seeks to expand access to contraceptives and other reproductive health, including access to abortion, has become a central issue in the 2024 presidential election campaign. Republican-led states have restricted access to abortion since the Supreme Court overturned Roe v. Wade in 2022. About half of states now ban or severely restrict abortion, which has coincided with steep declines in prescriptions for birth control and emergency contraception in those states.
HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra said when health care insurers impose burdensome administrative or cost sharing requirements for services, “access to contraceptives become even more difficult.”
“We have heard from women who need a specific brand of birth control but the cost of their prescription isn’t covered by their health insurance. We have made clear that in all 50 states the Affordable Care Act guarantees coverage of women’s preventive services…
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