 |
Year
2007 |
|
Archives
|
|
|
June 2004»
Birth control coverage owes much to Viagra
BY MARC KAUFMAN
Washington Post
Posted on Mon, Jun. 14, 2004
WASHINGTON - The number of group employee insurance plans that cover
birth control pills and other contraceptives increased dramatically
in the past decade. The changes were spurred by federal and state
requirements, lawsuits demanding coverage and, it seems, Viagra.
In a study to be released Tuesday, the Alan Guttmacher Institute found that 86 percent of employer-provided health plans covered a full range of contraceptive choices in 2002, compared with 28 percent in a parallel 1993 study.
"This is an enormous and exciting change," said Sharon Camp of the Guttmacher Institute, which studies issues of reproductive health.
Camp said Viagra gets some of the credit. As soon as the male impotency
drug was approved by the Food and Drug Administration in 1998, most
employer health plans placed it on their list of covered drugs,
setting off a torrent of criticism from women
whose birth control needs often were not covered.
The new study estimates that 30 percent to 40 percent of the increase in plan coverage was directly due to state mandates. Since 1998, when Maryland passed the nation's first law requiring employer health plans to cover contraceptives if they also offer prescription benefits, 20 other states have passed similar legislation. Kansas does not require such coverage.
Although the number of health plans providing comprehensive coverage has increased, another survey indicated that new methods of contraception, including rings and patches, are slow to receive coverage.
The study found more than 80 percent of insurance companies cover oral contraceptives, but only 40 percent to 50 percent of companies cover the newer methods.
source :-http://www.kansas.com | 
