Biden unveils plan expanding access to contraceptive products

A pack of birth control pills is displayed in this illustration picture taken in Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, US, July 11, 2022.

The White House on Monday proposed to expand access to free contraceptive products for 52 million women of reproductive age in the United States with private health insurance, the White House said. Kamala Harris has made the issue of women’s health care access a key part of her platform in her bid for the presidency.

US President Joe Biden on Monday announced plans to expand access to contraceptive products, including free over-the-counter birth control, just two weeks before elections where reproductive rights are a key issue.

“This new action would help ensure that millions of women with private health insurance can access the no-cost contraception they need,” Biden said in a statement.

The proposed rule would widen coverage of contraception without cost for 52 million women of reproductive age with private health insurance, the White House said.

Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris described the proposal in a statement as the “largest expansion of contraception coverage in more than a decade”.

The proposal must go through a 60-day public comment period before it is finalized.

The current US health care law requires most insurance plans to cover contraception at no cost, but allows them to require a prescription.

The proposal would extend coverage to over-the-counter products including emergency contraceptives.

(AFP)


Read more on FRANCE 24 English

Read also:
Biden signs executive order to help safeguard access to abortion, contraception
Obamacare: Supreme Court rules employers can refuse to provide birth control on religious grounds