A contraceptive mandate is a government regulation or law that requires health insurers, or employers that provide their employees with health insurance, to cover some contraceptive costs in their health insurance plans.
In 1978, the United States Congress ruled that discrimination on the basis of pregnancy was discrimination on the basis of sex.[1] In 2000, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission ruled that companies that provided insurance for prescription drugs to their employees but excluded birth control were violating the Civil Rights Act of 1964.[2] President Obama signed the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) on 23 March 2010. As of 1 August 2011, female contraception was added to a list of preventive services covered by the ACA that would be provided without patient co-payment. The federal mandate applied to all new health insurance plans in all states from 1 August 2012.[3][4]
Grandfathered plans did not have to comply unless they changed substantially.[5] To be grandfathered, a group plan must have existed or an individual plan must have been sold before President Obama signed the law; otherwise they were required to comply with the new law.[6] The Guttmacher Institute said that even before the federal mandate was implemented, twenty-eight states had their own mandates that required health insurance to cover prescription contraceptives, but the federal mandate innovated by forbidding insurance companies from charging part of the cost to the patient.[7] In 2017, the Trump administration issued a ruling letting insurers and employers refuse to provide birth control if doing so would violate their religious beliefs or moral convictions.[8]
- ^ "The Pregnancy Discrimination Act of 1978". The U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission. 1978-10-31. Retrieved 2014-01-25.
- ^ Cite error: The named reference
EEOCwas invoked but never defined (see the help page). - ^ "Contraceptive Coverage in the New Health Care Law: Frequently Asked Questions" (PDF). 2011-11-01. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-08-13. Retrieved 2014-01-25. "The official start date is August 1, 2012, but since most plan changes take effect at the beginning of a new plan year, the requirements will be in effect for most plans on January 1, 2013. School health plans, which often begin their health plan years around the beginning of the school year, will see the benefits of the August 1st start date."
- ^ "Prescription Drug Costs and Health Reform: FAQ". 2013-05-04. Retrieved 2014-01-25.
- ^ "Contraceptive Coverage in the New Health Care Law: Frequently Asked Questions" (PDF). 2011-11-01. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-08-13. Retrieved 2014-01-25. "These changes include cutting benefits significantly; increasing co-insurance, co-payments, or deductibles or out-of-pocket limits by certain amounts; decreasing premium contributions by more than 5%; or adding or lowering annual limits."
- ^ "Contraceptive Coverage in the New Health Care Law: Frequently Asked Questions" (PDF). 2011-11-01. Archived from the original (PDF) on 2012-08-13. Retrieved 2014-01-25. "Non-grandfathered plans are group health plans created after the health care reform law was signed by the President or individual health plans purchased after that date."
- ^ Sonfield, Adam (2013). "Implementing the Federal Contraceptive Coverage Guarantee: Progress and Prospects" (PDF). Guttmacher Policy Review. 16 (4). Retrieved 2014-01-25.
- ^ "Trump rolls back free birth control". BBC News. 6 October 2017.
© MMXXIII Rich X Search. We shall prevail. All rights reserved. Rich X Search