Chiquita Brooks-LaSurefederal government administrator Medicare and Medicaid Service Centerssaid the proposal aims to “protect and promote” access to contraceptive and reproductive health care services.Getty Images
WASHINGTON The Biden administration unveiled a proposal to bolster free contraceptive coverage under the Affordable Care Act, in a bid to rewrite a Trump administration policy that allowed some employers to circumvent the requirement. The rule proposed by three federal agencies would remove an employer’s ability to object to such coverage on moral grounds while allowing for religious objections. But anyone whose coverage is provided by religiously objectionable employers or schools can still access contraceptive care through a consenting provider.Chiquita Brooks-LaSurefederal government administrator Medicare and Medicaid Service Centerssaid the proposal aims to “protect and promote” access to contraceptive and reproductive health services “If this rule is finalized, people who have health plans that would otherwise be subject to the preventive services requirements of the ‘ACA but did not cover contraceptive services in a moral or religious objection would now have access,’ said Brooks-LaSure Employers would still be allowed to object to contraceptive coverage on religious grounds, but the rule would eliminate moral objections Anyone whose employer objects on religious grounds would have an “independent avenue” to seek care from a “consenting provider of contraceptive services” The health care provider would be paid by health plans sold on federal or state insurance exchanges created under the former president by Barack Obama health law 2010. In 2018, Chairman that of Donald Trump The administration has adopted a policy allowing any employer with religious objections or moral concerns to avoid the ACA’s mandate that their insurance plans provide free coverage for birth control. It was one of the moves Trump took to weaken the ACA after Republican attempts to repeal the law failed. It will be several months before the proposed rules from the departments of Health and social serviceswork and Treasury are finalized. “We’re going to be looking at this closely to make sure it’s as easy as possible for consumers to know to use it,” said Mara Gandal-PowersDirector of Birth Control Access and Senior Counsel for the National Center for Women’s Rights.. The Biden administration has sought broader contraceptive coverage as conservative states move to pass tougher restrictions on abortion access after the Supreme Court struck down Roe v. Wade, who established the right to abortion. In light of tightening state restrictions on abortion, advocates said the fight for access to contraception has become the next big battleground. “The ability to prevent pregnancy has taken on a different weight in many places,” Gandal-Powers said. UNITED STATES Today.
