Birth Control Coverage is Vital Part of 'Preventative' Health Care

By Julie Rabinovitz

Should a woman be forced to choose between paying for a pack of birth control pills or feeding her family?  After looking at extensive scientific evidence, the Institute of Medicine says no.

The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act, the federal statute signed into law in 2010 commonly referred to as health care reform, required that "preventative" care be covered free of charge to Americans that qualify for coverage under a new health exchange created by the law.

The Institute of Medicine was charged by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services with determining the health services for women that should be covered under the exchange without co-pays or deductibles. In statements released last week, the Institute of Medicine recommended that birth control be classified as "preventative" care, and provided – along with education and counseling – free of charge.

Currently, about half of all pregnancies in the United States are unplanned, costing taxpayers an estimated $11 billion a year. In "The High Cost of Unintended Pregnancy," a report released this month by the well-regarded think tank the Brookings Institution, the authors concluded that "with state and federal budgets being scoured for potential savings – and in light of the mounting evidence showing a number of cost-effective policy options for reducing unintended pregnancies – policymakers should increase their investments in proven pregnancy-prevention strategies."

Policy wonks aren't the only ones that recognize the important role family planning plays in fiscal and community health. An overwhelming majority of Americans support and use birth control.

According to a national poll, 84 percent of Americans approve of family planning and see birth control as an important part of preventive health care. Among all women who have had sex, 99 percent have used a contraceptive method other than natural family planning.

It is also worth noting that covering birth control is not new. Most insurance plans already cover contraceptives, but issues around affordability and access remain. A 2010 survey found that one in three women voters have struggled to pay for prescription birth control at some point and have used it inconsistently as a result.

When you combine the scientific and economic evidence and general mood of most Americans, it is remarkable that it has taken this long for comprehensive women's health care and family planning to be recognized and covered as an essential part our health care delivery system.

In California, we have seen firsthand the health and fiscal benefits of increasing access to and coverage of the services outlined in the Institute of Medicine's recommendations. California's Family Planning, Access, Care and Treatment, or Family PACT, program was cited as one of the nation's most effective models in the Institute of Medicine's report.

Family PACT, combined with the prevention activities supported by federal Title X funding, has dramatically decreased the rates of adult and teen unintended pregnancies statewide and has resulted in tremendous savings to the public sector. Over five years, Family PACT saved an average of $14,111 public sector costs per averted pregnancy for a total of nearly $4.05 billion.

In Senate President Pro Tem Darrell Steinberg's district, 50,026 Title X patients were served in 2010 and $262,269 was saved from a Title X investment that helped avert unintended pregnancies and sexually transmitted infections.

These are real lives touched and real dollars saved.

Better health access, increases in positive health outcomes and more money in the bank – Isn't that a healthy combination we can all agree on?

Julie Rabinovitz is the president and CEO of California Family Health Council.