The New York state Assembly recently passed a bill to provide insurance coverage for FDA-approved contraception. The bill’s sponsor and state attorney general say there is an urgency to move the legislation forward with the repeal of the Affordable Care Act imminent.
Hudson Valley Democrat Kevin Cahill sponsored the Comprehensive Contraception Coverage Act in the Assembly. It’s a bill the Assembly had passed last year to conform to the Affordable Care Act and basic insurance plans in the state.
“This year we passed it for the same reasons but also to make sure that we were on record and had a law in the state of New York that would protect these interests in the event that Congress made changes to the Affordable Care Act that would negate those portions that we were complying with match up with the federal government last year,” Cahill says.
State Attorney General Eric Schneiderman introduced the Comprehensive Contraception Coverage Act of 2017 to protect and enhance New Yorkers’ access to cost-free contraception and ensure the continuation of coverage if the Affordable Care Act is repealed. It includes contraception for men, like vasectomies. Amy Spitalnick is spokeswoman for Schneiderman, also a Democrat.
“The attorney general introduced this bill originally in 2015, and I don’t think anyone would have realized how prescient it was in terms of what to expect in 2017,” Spitalnick says. “So right now we’re at this unprecedented moment where we have an administration and congressional Republicans looking to do whatever they can to roll back the Affordable Care Act. And Albany needs to continue to show that New York is a national leader when it comes to protecting basic healthcare rights of New Yorkers.”
Hours after taking the oath of office, President Donald Trump signed an executive order directing relevant agencies to minimize economic and regulatory burdens of the ACA en route to a repeal. Cahill, who chairs the Insurance Committee, notes that federal law requires that all 18 types of approved contraception are available and covered by insurance policies without additional fees or coinsurance charges. He says the bill the Assembly passed January 17 would bring New York fully in compliance.
Over the weekend, New York Governor Andrew Cuomo announced a series of regulatory actions that include ensuring that contraceptive drugs and devices are covered by commercial health insurance policies without co-pays, coinsurance, or deductibles regardless of the future of the Affordable Care Act. He also acted to ensure that contraceptives are available in amounts exceeding one month’s supply at a time. Schneiderman praised Cuomo’s proposed regulations. Here’s Cahill.
“I do have some questions about why he hadn’t done this earlier. This is not news. We didn’t create this situation when this congress took place. This bill has been out there for a year. He didn’t help us pass it last year but we’re grateful that he’s taking some administrative steps, but that’s all they are,” Cahill says. “They are not as pervasive or all-inclusive as the legislation is that we have to offer, and they are only regulations and could be changed by the next administration. What this will do, what our bill will do, and when we secure a senate sponsor, we’re confident we will, we had one last year in Senator Bonacic, and we believe there’s still interest in his office and others to pick up this legislation, when this becomes law, it will be the law of New York state.”
A spokesman for Republican John Bonacic says that Bonacic is working with his colleagues in the Senate to see that this bill is introduced. The New York State Catholic Conference opposes the Comprehensive Contraception Coverage Act. It says that allowing a 12-month supply of prescription contraceptives, including emergency contraception known as the morning-after pill, is dangerous for young women and public policy. And the Catholic Conference opposes the morning-after pill because it says the pill can effect an early abortion. It also opposes the legislation for its prohibition on insurance plans from delaying timely access to contraception, posing problems for religious employers who do qualify for an exemption.
