by Sarah Audelo, Senior Manager, Domestic Policy

In a new report, the Institute of Medicine (IOM) has called for birth control to be available without a co-pay for all U.S. health insurance plans.

As the Affordable Care Act (health care reform) starts to take effect, the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) asked the independent, non-partisan Institute of Medicine to recommend additional preventive care services that all women should be entitled to at no cost under their insurance plans. These recommendations from the IOM are a critical first step — but their recommendations must now be formally accepted and implemented by HHS and the Obama Administration.

Tell the Department of Health and Human Services AND President Obama to stand up for women and accept these recommendations from the Institute of Medicine.

If enacted, the Institute of Medicine's recommendations will have an enormous impact on the health and lives of women — particularly young women — across the U.S.

Specifically, five of the IOM's recommendations make important advances in sexual and reproductive health:

1. Annual counseling on sexually transmitted infections for sexually active women.*
2. Counseling and screening for HIV infection on an annual basis for sexually active women.
3. FDA approved contraception (including emergency contraception!), patient education and counseling for all women with reproductive capacity.
4. Counseling and screening for interpersonal and domestic violence.
5. Yearly well-woman preventive care visits to obtain recommended preventive services.