Today, August 1 marks the fourth anniversary of coverage for reproductive health services, including no-copay contraception, under the Affordable Care Act. Latinas historically face disparities in access to high quality health care and many of our families are struggling to make ends meet. As a result, Latinas are twice as likely to experience unintended pregnancy. Ensuring access to contraception is a critical part of helping women in our community to overcome these barriers.
Providing contraceptive coverage helps to ensure that each person can plan their pregnancies and we can each become parents when we are ready. The Affordable Care Act and Medicaid expansion are important steps forward for Latinas, who are disproportionately likely to face structural barriers that prevent us from accessing care.
Access to high-quality, effective, contraceptive methods helps to build healthier communities. Providing health coverage has helped less people in Colorado face the difficult situation of an unintended pregnancy. It has helped families to have the ability to plan pregnancies, which results in better health outcomes and better financial stability. We have made great strides, but there is still work to be done. COLOR’s community organizer, Cynthia Negron found out first hand that women are still facing barriers to coverage for the method that is best for their health and life needs.
After talking with her partner and her health professional, Cynthia made the decision to get the NUVA ring, because it is the only hormonal method that limits hormones throughout the body and has the added convenience of needing to be remembered just once a month. It can also be stopped at any time. It is a method with unique benefits unlike pills or other longer acting methods. Cynthia was told that her insurance company, Kaiser does not cover the NUVA ring even though it is a very safe and effective, FDA approved method of contraception. She was told to go to Planned Parenthood.
“I greatly respect the work that Planned Parenthood does and has done to ensure that people without insurance or who cannot afford services are able to get the care they need, but I have health insurance benefits that I and my employer pay for every month. I decided to keep my existing method even though it is no longer serving my long-term health and reproductive needs. I did not want to use the limited resources that clinics have to meet their patients’ needs when I have insurance that I pay for. Nor do I think I should have to pay extra, out of pocket costs when contraception is supposed to be covered by my insurance,” Cynthia Negron.
Medicaid expansion and the ACA have meant so much to our community with many people being able to afford insurance and seek critical care for the first time in years – if ever. This expanded access was also supposed to make it easier to get preventive care as part of a long term strategy to reduce healthcare costs, but in the essential area of contraception that promise is still unfulfilled for many.
We do not want to have to tell people in our community that they may have to settle for less than their neighbors just because their carrier is taking advantage of loopholes. During the 2016 legislative session, advocates came together to urge support for legislation to require that all Medicaid managed care plans and health benefit plans provide the full range of FDA-approved contraceptive methods as a preventive health service to cover, at no cost.
There are still many women in our community who remain uncovered. We have been working to ensure that Latinas enroll in plans and get insured, so they can access important preventative care. It undercuts our mission when people have to worry about extra barriers they will have to face and or when they are denied the care that is best for them.
This is a simple fix – doctors and their patients should identify the best contraception method for their needs and health insurance should cover it. In fact, insurance should cover the full range of reproductive health care that people need - from contraception and abortion to prenatal and maternity care.
We will continue to urge our state leaders to stand with women and families by supporting contraceptive equity to close this loophole. We should continue to do all we can to ensure that women are able to become parents when they have the support they need to care for themselves and their children.