Rhode Island Senate Passes Bill To Protect Contraceptive Coverage

PROVIDENCE, RI — The Rhode Island Senate passed a bill to ensure contraception remains covered by OceanState insurers in the event the coverage requirements in Affordable Care Act are overturned.

The bill was sponsored by state Sen. Dawn Euer, D-Newport and Jamestown.

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“The urgent need for this bill has only increased as the years have gone on," Euer said in a media release.

When I first introduced this legislation, colleagues questioned why it was necessary, on the grounds that something as essential as birth control would always remain covered,” Euer said.

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“But in the last few years the opposition to all forms of reproductive rights and health care access has strengthened and polarized, and our federal health policy has grown more and more detached from good science and best medical practices," she said. "The Senate Health and Human Services Committee and the Senate as a whole have repeatedly voted to advance this legislation in past years and I thank again them for recognizing the importance of protecting health care access. Let’s make this the year we enshrine these protections in Rhode Island law before it’s too late.”

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The bill requires "health insurers to continue to offer no-cost contraceptives, regardless of what happens on the federal level," according to the release.

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"Insurers would be required to cover all Food and Drug Administration-approved contraceptive drugs or, when safe and appropriate, their generic equivalents," the release said. "Coverage for devices and other products, voluntary sterilization procedures, patient education and counseling on contraception and follow-up services would also be required. Patients could not be charged a deductible or copay for any of these services, with an exception for patients with qualifying high-deductible insurance plans. The bill would also require Medicaid to cover a 12-month supply of contraceptives."

The bill now heads to the House.

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