The White House on Monday proposed to expand access to free contraceptive products for 52 million women of reproductive age in the United States with private health insurance, the White House said. Kamala Harris has made the issue of women’s health care access a key part of her platform in her bid for the presidency.
Issued on: 21/10/2024 -
By: NEWS WIRES
A pack of birth control pills is displayed in this illustration picture taken in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US, July 11, 2022. © Hannah Beier, Reuters
US President Joe Biden on Monday announced plans to expand access to contraceptive products, including free over-the-counter birth control, just two weeks before elections where reproductive rights are a key issue.
“This new action would help ensure that millions of women with private health insurance can access the no-cost contraception they need,” Biden said in a statement.
The proposed rule would widen coverage of contraception without cost for 52 million women of reproductive age with private health insurance, the White House said.
Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris described the proposal in a statement as the “largest expansion of contraception coverage in more than a decade”.
The proposal must go through a 60-day public comment period before it is finalized.
The current US health care law requires most insurance plans to cover contraception at no cost, but allows them to require a prescription.
The proposal would extend coverage to over-the-counter products including emergency contraceptives.
In the wake of a 2022 Supreme Court decision that overturned the constitutional right to abortion, Democrats have positioned themselves as the party of reproductive rights, with polls indicating that a majority of Americans support access to abortion.
(AFP)
US President Joe Biden on Monday announced plans to expand access to contraceptive products, including free over-the-counter birth control, just two weeks before elections where reproductive rights are a key issue.
“This new action would help ensure that millions of women with private health insurance can access the no-cost contraception they need,” Biden said in a statement.
The proposed rule would widen coverage of contraception without cost for 52 million women of reproductive age with private health insurance, the White House said.
Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris described the proposal in a statement as the “largest expansion of contraception coverage in more than a decade”.
The proposal must go through a 60-day public comment period before it is finalized.
The current US health care law requires most insurance plans to cover contraception at no cost, but allows them to require a prescription.
The proposal would extend coverage to over-the-counter products including emergency contraceptives.
In the wake of a 2022 Supreme Court decision that overturned the constitutional right to abortion, Democrats have positioned themselves as the party of reproductive rights, with polls indicating that a majority of Americans support access to abortion.
(AFP)
Biden proposes rule change that would make OTC contraceptives free
Oct. 21, 2024 / UPI
On Monday, the Biden administration issued a proposal for a rule change that will give women access to free over-the-counter contraceptives. “We believe that women in every state must have the freedom to make deeply personal health care decisions,” the president (pictured in 2023 at the White House) said Monday in a statement. “Including the right to decide if and when to start or grow their family.” File Photo by Samuel Corum/UPI | License Photo
Oct. 21 (UPI) -- The Biden administration on Monday proposed a rule change that will give women access to free over-the-counter contraceptives.
Administration officials said the proposal would be the "most significant expansion" for women's contraception coverage under the Affordable Care Act, which more than 50 million Americans rely on for health insurance.
"We believe that women in every state must have the freedom to make deeply personal health care decisions," the president said Monday in a statement. "Including the right to decide if and when to start or grow their family."
If finalized, it would "significantly increase" over-the-counter contraceptive coverage and would allow women for the first time to get OTC contraception at no cost.
The proposed rule change builds on Affordable Care Act requirements that say most private health plans must cover contraception without cost sharing. The White House added it could affect as many as 52 million U.S. women of reproductive age on a private health insurance plan.
On Monday, President Joe Biden called the initiative "a major step" in expanding coverage for "no-cost contraception" under the ACA, also known as "ObamaCare," which he helped implement as vice president under Barack Obama.
But Biden also took direct aim at Congressional Republicans, which was echoed by a Democrat lawmaker on the Hill later in the day.
"Republican politicians have made clear they aren't stopping at overturning Roe and intend to restrict birth control next," Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., said Monday afternoon on X.
In Biden's statement, the president said that, since Roe v. Wade's reversal more than two years ago, the GOP has "made clear they want to ban or restrict birth control, defund federal programs that help women access contraception, and repeal the Affordable Care Act."
At least 18 government-approved contraceptives now exist on the U.S. market. It took until the ACA's 2010 passage for contraception to be a requirement for coverage under most insurance plans.
The federal government added on Monday that it's also issuing new guidance to "help ensure that patients can access other preventive services," such as cancer screenings, which must be covered without cost sharing under the law.
According to the White House, the administration so far has lowered coverage costs for health insurance in the marketplace by an average of $800 per year and "more Americans than ever before" have signed up for health insurance through the law.
Last month, the U.S. Treasury revealed that nearly 50M of the more than 345 million people in the U.S. population had so far enrolled in Obamacare since 2014.
"While we fight to protect and expand health care, extremist so-called leaders are attacking reproductive freedom at every turn," Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee and the nation's first woman to serve in the role, said Monday in her own statement.
In January, the Affordable Care Act reached a 20M 'milestone' for new enrollments as the year began. On Monday, the outgoing president called on Congress "to restore reproductive freedom and safeguard the right to contraception once and for all."
This follows other previous Biden administration efforts to expand access of the critical contraceptive care for women. Last year in June, the president signed an executive order to expand free birth control including over-the-counter contraception.
If finalized, the proposed federal rule change will signify the "most significant expansion" of contraception coverage under the Affordable Care Act since earlier efforts in 2012.
New Jersey's Pallone, ranking member on the House Energy Committee, added how Biden and Harris' move "defends" against ongoing GOP political attacks on women's reproductive freedom.
Oct. 21, 2024 / UPI
On Monday, the Biden administration issued a proposal for a rule change that will give women access to free over-the-counter contraceptives. “We believe that women in every state must have the freedom to make deeply personal health care decisions,” the president (pictured in 2023 at the White House) said Monday in a statement. “Including the right to decide if and when to start or grow their family.” File Photo by Samuel Corum/UPI | License Photo
Oct. 21 (UPI) -- The Biden administration on Monday proposed a rule change that will give women access to free over-the-counter contraceptives.
Administration officials said the proposal would be the "most significant expansion" for women's contraception coverage under the Affordable Care Act, which more than 50 million Americans rely on for health insurance.
"We believe that women in every state must have the freedom to make deeply personal health care decisions," the president said Monday in a statement. "Including the right to decide if and when to start or grow their family."
If finalized, it would "significantly increase" over-the-counter contraceptive coverage and would allow women for the first time to get OTC contraception at no cost.
The proposed rule change builds on Affordable Care Act requirements that say most private health plans must cover contraception without cost sharing. The White House added it could affect as many as 52 million U.S. women of reproductive age on a private health insurance plan.
On Monday, President Joe Biden called the initiative "a major step" in expanding coverage for "no-cost contraception" under the ACA, also known as "ObamaCare," which he helped implement as vice president under Barack Obama.
But Biden also took direct aim at Congressional Republicans, which was echoed by a Democrat lawmaker on the Hill later in the day.
"Republican politicians have made clear they aren't stopping at overturning Roe and intend to restrict birth control next," Rep. Frank Pallone, D-N.J., said Monday afternoon on X.
In Biden's statement, the president said that, since Roe v. Wade's reversal more than two years ago, the GOP has "made clear they want to ban or restrict birth control, defund federal programs that help women access contraception, and repeal the Affordable Care Act."
At least 18 government-approved contraceptives now exist on the U.S. market. It took until the ACA's 2010 passage for contraception to be a requirement for coverage under most insurance plans.
The federal government added on Monday that it's also issuing new guidance to "help ensure that patients can access other preventive services," such as cancer screenings, which must be covered without cost sharing under the law.
According to the White House, the administration so far has lowered coverage costs for health insurance in the marketplace by an average of $800 per year and "more Americans than ever before" have signed up for health insurance through the law.
Last month, the U.S. Treasury revealed that nearly 50M of the more than 345 million people in the U.S. population had so far enrolled in Obamacare since 2014.
"While we fight to protect and expand health care, extremist so-called leaders are attacking reproductive freedom at every turn," Vice President Kamala Harris, the Democratic presidential nominee and the nation's first woman to serve in the role, said Monday in her own statement.
In January, the Affordable Care Act reached a 20M 'milestone' for new enrollments as the year began. On Monday, the outgoing president called on Congress "to restore reproductive freedom and safeguard the right to contraception once and for all."
This follows other previous Biden administration efforts to expand access of the critical contraceptive care for women. Last year in June, the president signed an executive order to expand free birth control including over-the-counter contraception.
If finalized, the proposed federal rule change will signify the "most significant expansion" of contraception coverage under the Affordable Care Act since earlier efforts in 2012.
New Jersey's Pallone, ranking member on the House Energy Committee, added how Biden and Harris' move "defends" against ongoing GOP political attacks on women's reproductive freedom.
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