NARAL Pro-Choice America on Contraceptive Services Guidance

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Today, the Departments of Health and Human Services, Labor and the Treasury issued guidance to clarify consumers’ right to coverage of preventive services without copay under the Affordable Care Act. This includes coverage of contraception.

Ilyse Hogue, president of NARAL Pro-Choice America, released the following statement:

“Insurance companies have penalized women long enough for wanting to make their own private medical decisions. It is far past time they end the practice of denying women access to the vital reproductive-health care benefits provided in the Affordable Care Act. We are glad the administration provided additional guidance today but, today’s action should have never been needed.

“Recent reports by NARAL Pro-Choice Washington, the Kaiser Family Foundation and the National Women’s Law Center all found that insurance carriers continue to wrongly charge women out-of-pocket costs for their contraceptives—costs the ACA eliminated—in addition to the cost of their insurance plans.

“This practice is a shameful new low for the insurance industry. Women shouldn’t be billed twice for making their own decisions concerning their bodies and their destinies.”