Sanders calls for investigation into contraceptive insurance coverage

Sen. Bernie Sanders (I-Vt.) is calling on a government watchdog to investigate why some health plans are charging women for contraception in violation of federal law requiring it to be free.

In all 50 states, the Affordable Care Act (ACA) guarantees coverage of preventive services for women, including all contraceptive methods approved by the Food and Drug Administration.

But in a letter sent Monday to the Government Accountability Office, Sanders said insurers are still charging customers and, in some cases, denying coverage requests.

“The ACA has been federal law for 14 years, and we continue to see plans deny coverage and ignore the federal mandate,” Sanders wrote. “It is completely unacceptable that plans consistently defy mandatory coverage and that there is little oversight or accountability.”

He cited a recent investigation in Vermont that found that three health insurers in the state — Blue Cross Blue Shield Vermont, MVP Health Care and Cigna Healthcare — improperly charged patients $1.5 million for contraceptives that should have been provided at no cost. direct.

Furthermore, Sanders said that October 2022 investigation of the House Oversight and Accountability Committee concluded that health plans and pharmacy benefit managers defy ACA requirements and exclude or impose cost-sharing on at least 34 contraceptive products.

According to the committee’s report, between 2015 and 2021, the majority of insurance companies surveyed denied an average of 40 percent or more of exception requests for contraceptive products, with one company denying more than 80 percent of all requests. the years.

A 2023 staff tracking report found that many patients covered by five of the largest health insurers and four of the largest pharmacy benefit managers face coverage exclusions and other restrictions on contraceptive products, contrary to the ACA.

In January, the Biden administration proposed an expansion of contraceptive coverage, including removing moral exemptions finalized under the Trump administration that made it easier for private health plans and insurers to exclude birth control coverage.

The administration’s health agencies have issued guidance for private insurers to cover, free of charge, a broader range of federally approved contraceptives under the Affordable Care Act.

Access to contraception has become a political battle, and Democrats have leaned into birth control protections as part of their election-year push on reproductive rights, seeking to emphasize Republican efforts that oppose protections that many voters they say they support.

This story originally appeared on thehill.com read the full story