PASSED!!!  While congress is considering the future of our healthcare – MA legislators are considering a bill that will continue to provide protect the access to contraceptives that the Republicans in Congress plan to remove.

We need your voice!

Find a Fact Sheet on this bill  here: ACCESS Fact Sheet_CFC_

Please consider submitting written testimony to NARAL Massachusetts. They will deliver this testimony to be added to the record when the bill has hearing, it is possible a hearing will be scheduled in July.

Information about written testimony and a form for testimony is here: ACCESS-TestimonyCollection.  Once you submit a form, please let us know in comments here, or on our Facebook page.

What we have now:

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) guarantees women access to preventive health care, including birth control, without co-pays. The elimination of out-of-pocket costs has allowed women, regardless of their economic status, to afford basic health care, including the birth control option that works best for them. With the implementation of the ACA, American women have experienced the single biggest advancement in health care access in a generation. Right now, over 55 million women in the United States, including 1.4 million women in Massachusetts, have access to preventive services like birth control with zero cost sharing, thanks to the ACA. This vital access is under serious threat on the federal level, with Republican leadership in Congress vowing to repeal the ACA and eliminate access to birth control with no cost-sharing.

What this bill will do:

An Act Relative to Advancing Contraception Coverage and Economic Security, sponsored by Senator Harriette Chandler and Representatives Pat Haddad and John Scibak, would protect and expand access to contraceptives by requiring insurers in Massachusetts to cover all FDA-approved contraceptive methods without cost-sharing, including coverage of over-the-counter contraceptives without a prescription. If passed, this bill will safeguard the 1.4 million Massachusetts residents who currently have access to no-copay birth control, and expand coverage to certain male contraceptives. This legislation will also prohibit insurers from using tools like step therapy to undermine and delay access to contraceptives, improving access to basic health care for individuals who have been denied the promise of the ACA. Additionally, this bill creates equity in contraceptive coverage by eliminating cost-sharing for contraception, voluntary sterilization, and contraceptive counseling for men.
No-one should be forced to choose between paying out-of-pocket for the birth control that works best for them and accepting medically inadvisable and potentially harmful medication or devices at no-cost. Decisions regarding birth control methods are best left to doctors and their patients – not their insurance companies.
By passing the An Act Relative to Advancing Contraception Coverage and Economic Security and ensuring everyone has access to the no-cost birth control option that works best for them, Massachusetts can continue to lead the nation in reducing unintended pregnancies and improving health care access.

Speak out against the Republican plans to remove our healthcare.

And share you story as testimony in favor of the ACCESS Bill.

See an error, typo, broken link etc? Send us an email

To sign up to receive an email when a new post goes up on our website click on the “follow this website” button on the right or if you are on a mobile device, below this post.

To sign up for our newsletter, fill out this form.

Would you like to become more involved in planning and strategy for this group? NO EXPERIENCE REQUIRED. See this post.