State of Michigan expands access to birth control
(CBS DETROIT) - The Department of Management, Technology, and Budget's (DTMB) made a decision to guarantee access to generic, prescription oral medication for 200,000 additional Michigan residents starting Sept. 1, as a result of Gov. Gretchen Whitmer's May executive directive.
Beginning Sept. 1, oral contraceptives were added to the Michigan Public School Employees' Retirement System (MPSERS) Non-Medicare Master Healthcare plan.
Before this, oral contraceptives were only covered under the Medicare plan, but now, members in the Non-Medicare plan will have access to this coverage as well.
"Every Michigan woman deserves to be able to make decisions about her body, including when and if to start a family," said Governor Gretchen Whitmer. "Today, we celebrate a step forward by the State of Michigan to cover birth control for the 200,000 retirees and their families covered by the MPSERS non-Medicare plan. In the last year, hundreds of requests for birth control coverage were denied, preventing those who get coverage from MPSERS plans, such as a retired teacher's daughter, from accessing the medication they needed. We need to use every tool in our toolbox to ensure women have control over their own bodies and access to reproductive health care no matter where they live or who they are. As some politicians take steps to control women's bodies, enacting extreme laws and restrictions on abortion and medication, I will fight like hell to protect reproductive freedom."
This plan covers about 200,000 retired school employees and their families with a goal of providing high quality health care at an affordable price for this primarily retiree population.
While retiree members often do not require this reproductive health service, their spouses and beneficiaries are included under this plan.
Officials say that DTMB and OptumRx are reaching out to about 600 Michigan residents who were denied birth control pills anytime in the past year to let them know about the new coverage.
