Take Action - Talking Points
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NARAL P.O. Box 279 |
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Talking Points: Please use these talking points to help us secure support for Contraceptive Equity legislation in Montana. We will be working in the 2005 legislative session to ensure that women receive insurance coverage for their contraceptives. It’s a matter of fairness!
Access to contraception is central to women’s autonomy and equality. Contraception is basic health care and should be treated as such as a matter of public policy.
The average woman who wants two children will spend five years pregnant or tyring to get pregnant and over twenty years trying to prevent pregnancy. During these years, most women will use contraceptives. However, many health plans do not cover any prescription contraceptive method.
Inequities in insurance coverage for contraception fall heavily on women. Women of reproductive age spend 68 percent more than men on out-of-pocket health care costs, with reproductive health care services accounting for much of the difference.
Montana lawmakers need to prove they care about Montana women. Contraceptives are basic health care for women, and insurance coverage needs to reflect that.
Insurers generally pay the medical costs of unintended pregnancy, including: full-term pregnancy, ectopic pregnancy, miscarriage, and abortion.
Studies show that any increases in cost due to contraceptive coverage are minimal or countered by the decrease in costs associated with unintended pregnancy. Montana’s women are worth the investment.
Both the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission and a federal court have held that an employer’s failure to provide coverage for contraceptives in an otherwise comprehensive prescription drug plan violates federal sex discrimination laws.
In a 2001 NARAL Pro-Choice America Foundation nationwide poll, 77 percent of respondents supported legislation requiring health insurance companies to cover the cost of contraception.
A 1998 Kaiser Family Foundation survey found that about three-quarters of Americans agreed with policies to guarantee that insurance plans will cover contraception – even if premiums were to rise as a result.
Montana needs to join the 21 other states that have passed laws requiring insurance companies to cover contraceptives. Covering contraceptives is a common sense approach to health policy. It shows that we care about women and families in Montana, that we care about equality, and we understand that reproductive health care is essential to the health and well-being of Montanans.
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