State Policies on Access to Gynecological Care and Contraception
This issue brief, updated for a Capitol Hill Briefing Series on women's health issues, assesses women's coverage of gynecological care and contraceptives. It also reviews the current status of state and federal policies designed to increase access to ob/gyns under managed care, improve insurance coverage of contraceptives, and provide low-income women health insurance under Medicaid.
Today, women's medical needs are increasingly shaping the health policy agenda. Since 1995, a quiet revolution has taken place at the state level. Thirty-eight states and the District of Columbia have adopted policies to give women enrolled in managed care greater access to obstetricians and gynecologists (ob/gyns). Thirteen states have passed laws requiring private insurers to cover contraception, all since 1998. A dozen states have taken action to expand their Medicaid programs to provide low-income, uninsured women access to family planning and eighteen states have expanded Medicaid eligibility to all poor parents, the majority of them women. These actions have the ability to influence the health care of millions ofwomen.
Issue Update: State Policies on Access to Gynecological Care and Contraception
