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Sex Act! Inequality in Insurance
Cover the Pill! An EPICC Fight Against Discrimination
After a five-year lawsuit filed by employees, Walmart recently announced that starting on January 1, 2007, its health insurance program will cover birth control pills and other prescription contraceptives1.
ABC News reports that “Studies have shown that women of reproductive age spend about two-thirds more than men on out-of-pocket health-care costs. Birth control and reproductive health-care services are believed to account for much of the difference.”2
Currently only 50% of states have laws requiring that health insurance policies cover contraception. Which means that women pay out-of-pocket for health care that is crucial to their well-being. The Equal Employment Opportunity Commission has ruled that “the exclusion from health plans of prescription drugs that are used overwhelmingly by women (such as contraception) constitutes discrimination and is illegal.”3
Consider these statistics from Planned Parenthood4:
7 out of 10 American women (that’s 43 million people!) in their childbearing years are sexually active and do not wish to become pregnant.
95% of American women use contraception at some point during their reproductive years. More than 50% of women using contraception choose prescription methods. Approximately 27% use oral contraceptive pills.
Retail costs can run approximately $360 per year for oral contraceptives.
Read the Center for Reproductive Rights’ fact sheet on the EPICC Act.
Visit Cover My Pills! Fair Access to Contraception, a project sponsored by Planned Parenthood and supported by other organizations such as the ACLU. You can learn which states require insurance companies to cover the costs of contraception, report pharmacies and physicians who refuse to issue or fill prescriptions for birth control, and download sample letters to help you request that your insurance provider cover contraception.
The International Women’s Health Coalition Action Page about EPICC combines a factsheet with information about contacting your representatives in Congress
The ACLU Action Page provides a handy form for sending an e-mail urging your Representatives and Senators to support EPICC.
The Equity in Prescription Insurance and Contraceptive Coverage (EPICC) bill was first introduced to Congress in 1997. Since then, EPICC been introduced several times to Congress but not passed into law. If passed into law, this federal legislation would require that insurance companies cover prescription contraception.
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