Planned Parenthood Advocates For Birth Control Coverage As Part Of Preventive Services

Planned Parenthood has launched a "quiet" campaign urging policymakers to include birth control in the preventive services that health plans must cover under the federal health care reform law (PL 111-148), Politico reports.

Starting Sept. 23 -- six months after the law's passage -- many health plans will be required to cover certain preventive services without charging policyholders copayments or out-of-pocket costs. An amendment by Sen. Barbara Mikulski (D-Md.) states that "additional preventive care and screenings" specific to women's health must be included in the coverage. Rachel MacKnight, a spokesperson for Mikulski, said the senator's "intention was to have preventive services provided for women at no additional cost, no deductibles." She added, "From [Mikulski's] perspective, that includes everything from heart disease screening and diabetes screening to mammograms to birth control."

The Health Resources and Services Administration is tasked with creating "comprehensive guidelines" on which women's health services will be included. HRSA Communications Director Martin Kramer said the agency has "six months from passage to come up with that, and it's still being worked on." HHS spokesperson Jessica Santillo said the department "is working through a deliberative process to develop the guidelines as called for in the statute."

Laurie Rubiner, vice president of public policy for the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, said the group "see[s] this as a tremendous opportunity to get no-cost birth control in the bill and ensure that this part of women's health is covered under preventive health."

According to the Guttmacher Institute, about 90% of employer-based health insurance plans cover prescription birth control. Copays for contraceptives can range from $10 to $50 monthly, depending on the brand and type, according to PPFA. "We still have one of the highest abortion rates of developed countries," Rubiner said, adding, "One of the single biggest reasons is that contraception is still financially out of reach for many women."

Planned Parenthood's campaign includes a new website featuring the slogan, "The Pill is Personal." On the site, birth control users are encouraged to share personal stories about how the pill has affected their lives and the lives of people they know. According to Politico, PPFA will use the stories to illustrate the importance of birth control coverage. Rubiner said, "This needs to be based on science and medical evidence, but ... it is also really important to hear the stories of how women view birth control, the health impact and the affordability issue."














Other reproductive health groups are also focused on this issue. Laura MacCleery, director of governmental relations for the Center for Reproductive Rights, said, "We're actively pursuing what we think falls within the appropriate boundaries of the coverage of this amendment."

Several religious groups opposed to contraception are campaigning against birth control coverage, Politico reports. U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops' Secretariat for Pro-Life Activities Richard Doerflinger said, "Congressional debate on the need to cover 'preventive services' in health care reform centered on services needed to prevent life-threatening diseases like breast cancer, not on a need to prevent the birth of new recipients of health care." He added, "Requiring contraception and sterilization in all private health plans would be an enormous imposition on the consciences of religious organizations and others who now have the right to purchase a health plan in accord with their moral and religious values" (Kliff, Politico, 6/1).


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