Coverage requirement included in the Affordable Care Act saved women $1.4 billion within first year of enactment

Washington (October 6, 2017) - Senator Edward J. Markey (D-Mass.) issued the following statement in response to President Donald Trump’s new rule allowing employers to no longer provide contraceptive coverage to their employees. The rule goes into effect immediately.

“This isn’t just an attack on women’s health, but a blow to women’s economic security,” said Senator Markey. “Being a woman is not a pre-existing condition. But the Trump administration appears ready to codify sexism into health care regulations by removing guaranteed access to basic preventive health benefits for women. Only a woman and her doctor, not her employer or the federal government, should be involved in making individual reproductive health decisions.”

Today, 62 million women access birth control as a preventive health benefit without a co-pay. The Obama administration allowed exemptions that accommodate religious objections to this coverage requirement, making today’s action a fundamental attack on women’s health care. This is consistent with the administration’s efforts throughout this year to defund Planned Parenthood, expand the “global gag rule” that prohibits federal dollars to go to international organizations providing comprehensive reproductive education and care, and rip health care coverage away from millions of Americans by attempting to cut Medicaid and repeal the Affordable Care Act.
 

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