HHS, Labor and Treasury put insurers on notice about ACA contraception coverage
Recent reports show that some issuers and plans may not be providing this coverage, HHS says.
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The heads of the Department of Health and Human Services, Labor and the Treasury Departments have put health plans and issuers on alert over contraception coverage under the Affordable Care Act.
HHS Secretary Xavier Becerra, Labor Secretary Marty Walsh and Treasury Secretary Janet L. Yellen have issued a letter to group health plans and health insurers reminding them of their obligations under the Affordable Care Act to provide coverage for contraceptive services at no cost.
In all 50 states, the ACA guarantees coverage of women's preventive services, including free birth control and contraceptive counseling, for individuals and covered dependents, according to HHS.
On Monday, the departments convened a meeting with national leaders where the health insurance industry is expected to commit to promptly correcting all areas of potential noncompliance and to take specific actions to ensure that their members have access to contraceptive services at no cost, HHS said.
WHY THIS MATTERS
HHS said recent reports have shown that some issuers and plans may not be appropriately providing this coverage.
The department heads are concerned about complaints received regarding the industry's failure to provide coverage of contraceptive services, without cost sharing, HHS said. They expect plans and issuers to immediately take steps to ensure that they are complying, and they may take enforcement or other corrective actions as appropriate.
The letter is another step for the departments to put the industry on notice for the required coverage and demand prompt action to ensure that people can rightfully access the birth control they need, HHS said.
It was sent out days after the Supreme Court ruled to strike down Roe v. Wade, opening the door, according to the opinion of Justice Clarence Thomas, to question other constitutional rights, such as the right of married couples to access contraceptives, and gay marriage.
The Constitution's Due Process Clause does not secure a right to an abortion or any other substantive rights, Thomas wrote in agreeing with the majority in Dobbs v. Jackson Women's Health Organization.
"The resolution of this case is thus straightforward. Because the Due Process Clause does not secure any substantive rights, it does not secure a right to abortion," Thomas wrote.
While this case is only about abortion, in future cases, the Court should reconsider all of the substantive due process precedents, including Griswold, Lawrence and Obergefell, Thomas said, referring to access to contraception.
"Because any substantive due process decision is 'demonstrably erroneous,'" he said.
Dissenting Justices Stephen Breyer, Sonia Sotomayor and Elena Kagan wrote of this potential result of the abortion decision: "Today's opinion will fuel the fight to get contraception, and any other issues with a moral dimension, out of the Fourteenth Amendment and into state legislatures," they said, according to The Wall Street Journal.
Conservative Republicans have shown no appetite for revisiting these rights, according to the WSJ report.
THE LARGER TREND
Louise Norris, an analyst with healthinsurance.org said for the time being, most health plans in all states will continue to provide coverage for FDA-approved female contraception, including sterilization, long-acting contraception (IUDs and implants) and emergency contraception.
HHS said plans and issuers are required to cover, at no cost, at least one form of contraception within each of the contraceptive categories identified by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration, HHS said. This includes instances when an FDA-approved, -cleared, or -granted contraceptive product that is recommended by the individual's medical provider does not fall within one of the identified categories.
Specifically, plans and issuers are required to have an easily accessible, transparent and sufficiently expedient exceptions process in place that ensures individuals can receive coverage without cost sharing. This coverage must also include the clinical services, including patient education and counseling, needed for provision of the selected contraception.
ON THE RECORD
"Reproductive healthcare is critical healthcare. The contraceptive coverage requirements under the Affordable Care Act have been in place for over a decade, and we expect plans and issuers to meet these obligations," said CMS Administrator Chiquita Brooks-LaSure.
