Governor Larry Hogan signed nearly 200 bills into law Tuesday in Annapolis.
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Unlike insurance coverage under the Affordable Care Act, which already covers co-pay costs for prescription birth control, the Maryland law also requires state health insurance plans to cover vasectomies, the morning-after pill, and non-generic birth control drugs that may offer less side effects. This means that by January 1, 2018, Maryland will be the state with the most expansive contraception law in the country, reports Buzzfeed.
Peter Shumlin (D) is expected to sign the measure, which passed the state Senate and House earlier this month. Advocates who pushed for the bill through the General Assembly have said that Maryland is the first state to pass such a comprehensive approach to Planned Parenthood.
“While it may seem as if most of the country is trying to take away women’s rights, the State of Maryland and Planned Parenthood of Maryland worked together to push reproductive rights forward”, said Karen Nelson, president and CEO of Planned Parenthood of Maryland (PPM). It makes Maryland the first in the nation to mandate coverage for emergency contraceptives like Plan B.
The National Women’s Law Center has a full list of state-by-state contraceptive equity laws and what they apply to. Birth control “is a family decision in many cases, and we should not pretend that this burden only falls to women”, he told Vermont public radio.
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The legislation ensures that cost will no longer be a barrier to men or women getting the type of birth control they need. Insurers also must provide six months worth of contraceptives at a time. And it simultaneously eliminates prescription requirements for birth control and pre-approval requirements for IUDs.
