Nessel joins coalition of 22 states supporting increased access to birth control coverage
(CBS DETROIT) - Michigan Attorney Dana Nessel joined 22 other states in support of increasing access to birth control coverage for women following exemptions that were added during the Trump Administration that allows employers to deny coverage under certain circumstances.
The rules, issued in 2017 and 2018, took away contraceptive coverage from women entitled to coverage under the Affordable Care Act (ACA).
In addition, the rules added exemptions that allowed nearly all types of employers to deny birth control coverage to employees based on religious or moral objections.
The coalition of attorney generals urged the Biden Administration in a letter to rescind parts of these rules.
"In the wake of the fall of Roe v Wade, it's more important than ever for women to have health care resources that promote access to safe and reliable reproductive care," Nessel said. "Contraceptive care is vital for women if they're going to be free to fully advance their educational and economic goals. The Trump-era rules created new exemptions that not only denied women across the country access to legally protected preventive healthcare, but also went far beyond what was necessary to protect the rights of those with religious or moral objections. I stand with my colleagues in supporting the new regulations because it's time to once again fully allow the ACA to protect women's choices in the ways it was intended to do."
The ACA's birth control coverage was signed into law in 2010 and required all employers to cover preventive services for women, including contraceptive services.
"It is estimated that more than 62 million women have benefited from the ACA's birth control coverage mandate," the attorney general's office said in a press release. "Studies have shown that access to contraceptive care supports people's ability to control their own reproductive health, and promotes access to education, jobs, and financial empowerment."
After the rules allowed employers to deny birth control based on religious and moral reasons, between 70,500 and 126,400, women are estimated to have lost coverage.
In addition, employers were not required to let employees know they lost coverage.
According to the attorney general's office, the Biden Administration proposed regulations that would: Rescind the Trump-era moral exemption rule, retain the Trump-era religious exemption rule and create an Individual Contraceptive Arrangement (ICA) to ensure that patients enrolled in health plans or coverage sponsored by objecting entities would still have the opportunity to obtain contraceptive services at no cost.
The letter supports rescinding the moral exemption, but calls for narrowing the religious exemptions by adding the following:
- Expanding the ICA to include a wider spectrum of individuals who are excluded from contraceptive coverage;
- Carrying out a publicity and outreach campaign to inform patients and providers about the ICA and help them enroll in it; and
- Providing additional protections to secure patients' privacy, safeguard them from retaliation, and create a process for contesting medical bills.
The letter was led by California Attorney General Rob Bonta, Massachusetts Attorney General Andrea Joy Campbell, Pennsylvania Attorney General Michelle Henry, and New Jersey Attorney General Matthew J. Platkin. These individuals were joined by the attorneys general of Arizona, Colorado, Connecticut, Delaware, the District of Columbia, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Minnesota, Nevada, New York, North Carolina, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington.
To read the letter, visit here.