Vermont Governor Peter Shumlin has signed a bill that mandates public and private health insurance providers include coverage for contraceptives.
Vermont is poised to become the first state to require public and private health insurance cover vasectomies without co-pays and deductibles. That's one of several types of birth control covered in the bill Governor Peter Shumlin signed into law on Monday.
It allows women to get oral contraceptives for 12 months without repeated doctor's office visits.
It boosts Medicaid payments for doctors who provide patients with long-acting reversible contraceptives, like the intrauterine device.
Maryland has enacted similar legislation, but it doesn't take effect until 2018. Most provisions of Vermont's bill take effect this October.
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