Biden Rule Would Make OTC Birth Control Free
Condoms and over-the-counter birth control would be free for the first time to women of reproductive age
By Bruce Japsen
The Biden administration is proposing a rule designed to expand access to over-the-counter contraceptive products including condoms, birth control and emergency contraception.
Under the proposal from the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS), the Labor Department and the Treasury Department, health insurance companies would be “required to cover over-the-counter (OTC) contraceptives without cost-sharing or requiring a prescription,” the administration said.
The proposed rule, which could lead to a new benefit for consumers sometime next year, builds on existing preventive health services already covered by health insurers under the Affordable Care Act.
The proposed rule would also require health plans to provide consumers with more choices of covered contraceptives, such as a “broader array of contraceptive drugs,” the administration said, citing a wider selection of covered oral contraceptive pills and “drug-led combination products,” including intrauterine devices (IUDs).
“The proposed rules also further reinforce plans’ and issuers’ responsibility to cover Food and Drug Administration (FDA)-approved, -cleared, and -granted birth control methods without cost-sharing,” the Biden administration said in its announcement.
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