Findings on Reproductive Techniques Discussed by Investigators at Thomas Jefferson University (Patient Education About the Affordable Care Act…

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Findings on Reproductive Techniques Discussed by Investigators at Thomas Jefferson University (Patient Education About the Affordable Care Act Contraceptive Coverage Requirement Increases Interest in Using Long-Acting Reversible Contraception)

By a News Reporter-Staff News Editor at Insurance Weekly News -- Investigators discuss new findings in Reproductive Techniques. According to news originating from Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, by VerticalNews correspondents, research stated, "The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) requires health insurance to cover all Food and Drug Administration- approved contraceptives at no cost to patients, including highly effective long-acting reversible contraception (LARC). Our objective was to determine whether a brief educational intervention about these provisions would increase interest in LARC use."

Our news journalists obtained a quote from the research from Thomas Jefferson University, "This is a cross-sectional survey of women seeking contraceptive care in an urban outpatient obstetrics/gynecology clinic. We collected baseline contraceptive attitudes and knowledge of the ACA's contraceptive coverage provisions before the intervention. Our primary outcome was interest in using a LARC method before and after reading a short description of the ACA's contraceptive coverage provisions. Surveys were completed by 316 participants. Most participants (52.8%) could not correctly identify any of the contraception coverage stipulations protected under the ACA. We observed a significant increase in LARC interest after the intervention in all participants (37.3% vs. 44.3%; p =.038), primarily among participants who did not originally identify any ACA provisions correctly (n = 167; 38.3% vs. 48.5%; p =.030). This subset also demonstrated a greater adjusted odds ratio of post-intervention LARC interest (odds ratio, 2.889; 95% CI, 1.234-6.723; p =.014). Interest in short-acting reversible contraception and contraception overall remained unchanged. Most women seeking birth control lack comprehensive understanding of the contraceptive coverage protected by the ACA."

According to the news editors, the research concluded: "Incorporating patient education about the ACA's no-cost contraception provision into routine contraceptive counseling may increase interest in LARC use and better enable women to make informed family planning decisions unrestrained by financial considerations."

For more information on this research see: Patient Education About the Affordable Care Act Contraceptive Coverage Requirement Increases Interest in Using Long-Acting Reversible Contraception. Womens Health Issues, 2017;27(2):152-157. Womens Health Issues can be contacted at: Elsevier Science Inc, 360 Park Ave South, New York, NY 10010-1710, USA.

The news correspondents report that additional information may be obtained from J.C. Durante, Thomas Jefferson University, Sidney Kimmel Med College, Philadelphia, PA 19107, United States.

Keywords for this news article include: Philadelphia, Pennsylvania, United States, North and Central America, Reproductive Techniques, Affordable Care Act, Contraceptives, Contraception, Thomas Jefferson University.