The primary reason that birth control is now being covered by some US health insurance providers and is being considered for full coverage is that it is considered to be a preventative service for women, taking into account their special medical needs. According to the Planned Parenthood website, under the Affordable Care Act which was passed in 2010 many health insurance companies are now providing or will provide full coverage for birth control and some other preventative services. It is important to note that this coverage is only being extended by private health insurance companies.
According to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services, “The Affordable Care Act – the health insurance reform legislation passed by Congress and signed into law by President Obama on March 23, 2010 – helps make prevention affordable and accessible for all Americans by requiring Health Plans to cover preventive services and by eliminating cost sharing for those services. Preventive services that have strong scientific evidence of their health benefits must be covered and plans can no longer charge a patient a copayment, coinsurance or deductible for these services when they are delivered by a network provider” (“Women’s Preventative Services Guidelines”). Under the new law some methods of birth control and brands of birth control without a co-pay; the provider of the health insurance has the option to limit the free of cost birth control methods available to generic drugs and devices (See “The Affordable Care Act”).
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"Why Is Birth Control Being Considered For Full Coverage Under Us Healthcare?".
Through the Affordable Health Care Act which came into existence under President Obama, millions more Americas will have access to health care. One of the services that is being provided, oftentimes at no charge by private insurance companies, are methods of birth control. The reason that birth control is being offered to many women free of charge under the new healthcare regulations is because women are in a special position when it comes to medical needs and treatment and the medical treatments that are being provided under the healthcare system recognize that. Therefore, they have instituted preventative services that are geared to addressing women’s special needs. One of these needs is birth control. This is considered to be a preventative measure to addressing the health problem of unwanted pregnancy just as pap smears and mammograms are considered to be preventative measures.
One reason that birth control may be considered a preventative measure is that women who do not want to conceive at that time may not be in a position to do so and may either consider medical services to get rid of an unwanted fetus or the fetus may be exposed to health risk that may be associated with unplanned pregnancy. In addition, the new healthcare coverage laws seem to recognize that women should have the opportunity to make a responsible decision concerning whether or not they want to conceive. Many who are opposed to birth control will argue that the government has chosen a side in the debate by supporting the offering of birth control; however, most will agree that birth control is not actually the same as abortion and should not be considered as such. Therefore, due to the significant burden that unplanned and unwanted pregnancy places on a woman’s life and the unique position of women when compared to men in contraception, healthcare insurance providers are willing to consider birth control methods to be preventative services.
