Rep. DeGette Decries Reported Trump Plan to Interfere with Health Insurance Coverage of Contraception

WASHINGTON, May 31 -- Rep. Diana DeGette, D-Colo., issued the following news release:

Congresswoman Diana DeGette (D-CO), Chief Deputy Whip, today said the Trump administration's reported plan to give employers and insurance companies broad latitude to deny coverage of contraception for women across the country will needlessly roll back the significant reductions in unintended pregnancy that occurred thanks in large part to the Affordable Care Act.

"Employers should not be able to intervene in women's personal health decisions, and President Trump's reported effort to enable that interference is both shameful and damaging," DeGette said. "Birth control coverage is essential to women's health care. People of all faiths and incomes should have access to contraceptive care without cost through their employers' insurance plans. Denial of this access will not only affect women's right to control their own health choices, but it will lead to an increase in unintended pregnancies and reduce women's ability to plan for their families and economic security."

Under the Affordable Care Act (ACA), every insurance plan is required to provide preventive care for all enrollees at no out-of-pocket cost. For women, that preventive care includes any FDA-approved method of birth control. Recognizing that some employers have religious objections to contraception, the Obama Administration created an accommodation for religiously-affiliated nonprofits to ensure they could continue to express their objections, but their employees could still access the health care they choose at no additional cost. DeGette, one of the ACA's authors, pushed to include in the law provisions that would result in access to contraception and reproductive health screenings without cost-sharing by the patient.

The Office of Management and Budget has posted online that it is reviewing an interim final rule reversing the federal requirement to ensure that women employed by religiously-affiliated organizations have access to health insurance that covers birth control. A leaked draft of the rule, dated May 23, would significantly expand the types of organizations that can request an exemption on moral or religious grounds, and may let any employer seek one. This would undermine the congressional intent of ACA provisions requiring coverage of preventive services without cost-sharing. An interim final rule can take effect when it is published in the Federal Register.