Tell President Biden: Make birth control accessible to everyone!
Petition to President Biden:
President Biden and his Administration must update guidelines to require insurance coverage of over-the-counter birth control, without a prescription.
For the first time, over-the-counter (OTC) birth control will soon be available in the United States. In a post-Roe country where Republicans are pushing for a national abortion ban, this expanded birth control access is critical.1
Earlier this year, the Food and Drug Administration (FDA) approved Opill, a safe, effective birth control pill identical to the prescription version. The pill will make birth control far more accessible to Americans, particularly young people and low-income people.2
But under current guidelines, the drug will remain out of reach to millions of people, because OTC contraceptives aren’t covered by most health insurance plans.2 President Biden must step in now and require that insurance providers cover the cost of OTC birth control.
Thanks to the Affordable Care Act, private health insurance plans are largely required to pay for contraception prescribed by a doctor. But because Opill will be available without a prescription, insurance companies will likely opt not to cover it.
Without insurance coverage, millions of Americans won’t be able to afford Opill. In a recent survey, 88% of young people reported difficulty accessing a birth control prescription, and 55% faced so many barriers they could not get on birth control pills at all.3 As Senator Patty Murray said, “Affordability IS access.”4
President Biden has taken clear, vital actions to protect access to contraceptives. (5) But for Opill to be truly accessible to all, President Biden must quickly issue updated guidelines to ensure the pill is fully covered by insurance when it hits the shelves early next year.
Sources:
- New York Times, “F.D.A. Approves First U.S. Over-the-Counter Birth Control Pill,” July 13, 2023.
- NPR, “The chiefs of failed banks will be in the Senate hot seat today about what went wrong—and why CEOs were paid millions,” July 19, 2023.
- Advocates for Youth, “BEHIND THE COUNTER: Findings from the 2022 Oral Contraceptives Access Survey,” 2022.
- Senator Patty Murray, “Murray, Hirono, Cortez Masto Rally for Over-The-Counter Birth Control, Reintroduce Affordability is Access Act,” May 18, 2023.
- The White House, “FACT SHEET: President Biden Issues Executive Order on Strengthening Access to Contraception,” June 23, 2023.