Top Biden officials press insurers on contraceptive coverage

Two Cabinet secretaries met with insurers Monday to ensure they provide contraceptives without cost to enrollees.

Health and Human Services Secretary Xavier Becerra and Labor Secretary Marty Walsh convened the meeting with 14 major health insurers and payer groups days after a Supreme Court decision overturned Roe v. Wade leaving states to decide abortion’s legality. In a concurrent opinion, Justice Clarence Thomas said the court should reconsider its 1965 ruling that established a right to contraception.

“The departments expect plans and issuers to immediately take steps to ensure that they are complying, and they may take enforcement or other corrective actions as appropriate,” the Cabinet members said in a statement.

Becerra and Walsh met with representatives from insurers Anthem, Centene, Humana, CVS Health, Blue Cross Blue Shield Association, Express Scripts, Optum, United Health, Kaiser Permanente and those of industry trade groups America's Health Insurance Plans, the Association for Community Affiliated Plans, the Business Group on Health, the National Coordinating Committee for Multiemployer Plans and the Alliance of Community Health Plans.

Concerns about coverage

The Affordable Care Act requires payers to cover at least one form of contraception for each Food and Drug Administration-approved method without a co-pay and provide alternatives if someone’s preferred contraception is denied. However, advocates for broad coverage say insurers are skirting the rules and denying coverage in some cases.

The House Committee on Oversight and Reform last month said insurers also were not consistently providing alternatives. Chair Carolyn Maloney, a New York Democrat, sent letters in May to many of the same payers meeting with Cabinet secretaries Monday. She asked them to provide answers on coverage plans and gaps by June 9, but the committee has not yet shared their responses.

Becerra, Walsh and Treasury Secretary Janet Yellen also wrote a letter to payers ahead of their Monday meeting.

“It is more important than ever to ensure access to contraceptive coverage with no out-of-pocket costs under the Affordable Care Act,” they said in the joint letter.

In the wake of the Supreme Court’s decision overturning Roe, health policy experts are also questioning whether insurers can cover abortion in restrictive states or pay for out-of-state care. In some states, the procedure is now or soon will be illegal. In eight others, Medicaid is required to cover abortion in the case of rape, incest and protecting the pregnant person’s life, but trigger laws do not include rape and incest exceptions.

Becerra on Friday noted that FDA-approved abortion medication through the mifepristone pill is still available. But the pill is only approved through the first 10 weeks of pregnancy and abortion rights advocates worry it could also see coverage and access restrictions as states crack down on abortion.

CORRECTION: An earlier version of this report misstated the Cabinet secretaries attending the meeting with insurers due to incomplete information provided by the administration.