Dive Brief:
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A new law will allow women in the District of Columbia to obtain a year's worth of birth control pills at once, rather than just 30 to 90 days worth, beginning in 2017.
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The goal is to help women avoid missing pills due to access issues, including the concern pharmacies are not well located for those in low-income areas.
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A similar law was passed this year in Oregon, the first state to enact legislation making it an option to obtain a year's worth of birth control pills at once. That law is set to go into effect in 2016.
Dive Insight:
The move may prove a trend given the ACA has already addressed the main barrier to access by requiring most employers and insurers to cover birth control without any out-of-pocket expenses. As Kaiser Health News notes, legislators are now looking to address other access gaps and additional states have been considering similar legislation. Some state Medicaid programs already allow women to obtain 12 months worth of birth control at a time.
A 2011 study in Obstetrics and Gynecology found women who received 12 months' worth of pills were 30% less likely to experience an unplanned pregnancy than those who received just one or three months' worth of pills.
However, insurers aren't sold on the idea. Clare Krusing, spokeswoman for America’s Health Insurance Plans (AHIP), told KHN, "We do have concerns that an automatic one-year supply of these medications will pose safety and affordability issues for patients, particularly if a woman is picking a brand-name over a generic, for example, or chooses to stop using contraception and is left with potentially months-worth of treatments.”