Birth control is supposed to be free. Why are people still paying for it?

Birth control is supposed to be free. Why are people still paying for it?

What you probably already know: The Affordable Care Act in 2010 included a provision that prohibited insurance companies from charging co-payments, deductibles and cost-sharing for contraception, but for many people, that’s not been the reality. Sen. Bernie Sanders, D-Vermont has now asked the Government Accountability Office to look into this and enforce the provision.

Why? The state of Vermont’s Department of Financial Regulation conducted a two-year investigation into top insurance carriers and found that they were charging members for birth control. Nearly 9,000 Vermonters were then reimbursed for the charges, which added up to more than $1.5 million over five years. That prompted Sen. Sanders to request the federal government pursue similar actions. A 2022 investigation by the House Oversight Committee also found that insurers were not complying with the ACA rules on birth control coverage.

What it means: If the GAO finds this to be a nation-wide issue, which is likely, insurance companies could be forced to pay back millions, possibly billions in overcharges. This will also put birth control coverage in the spotlight just as conservative groups are targeting it for statewide bans. Senate Republicans, for example, blocked a bill that would have protected access to contraception, saying it was unnecessary. Meanwhile, in Missouri, state House Republicans stalled a bill for months that would have expanded birth control access as well as STI tests, mammograms and rape kits, because, they falsely claimed, birth control could be used to cause abortions.

What happens now? The GAO will likely look into this topic and could even expand the scope to include claims from people whose insurance provider failed to cover newly F.D.A.-approved contraceptives, or cover medically necessary aspects of birth control like insertion or removal of IUDs. The National Women’s Law Center has been helping people fight their insurance companies for coverage of birth control for years and has a hotline available in the meantime.

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