Free Birth Control Under Obamacare?

As health reform regulations begin to take shape, Planned Parenthood has begun a quiet campaign to ensure that birth control is counted among the free preventive services that health insurers must cover under the Affordable Care Act. 

Birth control barely came up in the health care reform debate, brushed aside by the more heated debate over abortion language and coverage. But with numerous religious groups opposed to contraceptive use, this issue is all but certain to become a flash point as implementation moves forward. 

“We see this as a tremendous opportunity to get no-cost birth control in the bill and ensure that this part of women’s health is covered under preventive health,” said Laurie Rubiner, Planned Parenthood’s vice president of public policy. 

Beginning Sept. 23, six months after the reform law passed, many health insurance plans will be required to provide free preventive services coverage, with no co-pays or out-of-pocket costs.