VICTORY! New preventive care for women, including no-copay birth control!

Tuesday, 09 August 2011 08:29

by Sarah Audelo, Senior Manager, Domestic Policy

We have some GREAT news to share.

Earlier this week, the Department of Health and Human Services announced that starting in August 2012, all new health insurance plans will be required to cover contraception with no co-pay — including condoms, birth control pills, contraceptive shots, and IUDs. This means that co-payments, which have long been a barrier to many women accessing contraception, will no longer be an issue for women with health insurance!

This historic shift is due in LARGE part to your incredible work reaching out to elected officials and members of the Obama administration, sending letters, and collecting petitions on this issue. Your efforts helped to ensure that the needs of women were the center of this debate — despite conservative attempts to derail the process through manufactured controversy and intentional misinformation. Here at Advocates for Youth, we know — as you do — that contraception is preventive care...and now insurance plans will reflect this basic reality!

The other sexual and reproductive health recommendations from the Institute of Medicine — many of which are groundbreaking in their own right — will also become standard! In addition to no-co-pay contraception, women will also be able to access the following services without a co-pay:

- Well-woman visits;
- Sexually transmitted infection counseling;
- Human Immunodeficiency Virus (HIV) screening and counseling;
- Domestic violence screening and counseling.

We can't thank you enough for all your hard work on this issue. These new guidelines are a huge step forward in making sure that all women, including young women, will be able to access the full range of sexual and reproductive health care services they need.

AMPLIFYYOUR VOICE.ORG
a youth-driven community working for change

AMBIENTEJOVEN.ORG
Apoyo para Jóvenes GLBTQ
for Spanish-speaking GLBTQ youth

MYSISTAHS.ORG
by and for young women of color

MORNINGAFTERINFO.ORG
information on emergency birth control for South Carolina residents

YOUTHRESOURCE.ORG
by and for gay, lesbian, bisexual, transgender, and questioning youth

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