SB276

What it does

• Requires insurers offering group or individual market plans to cover FDA-approved prescription contraceptives.
• Mandates coverage for medical visits needed to prescribe, dispense, insert, deliver, administer, or remove contraceptive drugs and devices.
• Allows patients to refill prescriptions intended to last 12 months even if they switch insurance plans during that year.
• Prohibits insurers from denying coverage because a patient changed their method of birth control within a 12-month period.
• Bans copayments or deductibles for contraceptives, except when necessary for a plan to qualify as a high-deductible health plan eligible for tax deductions.
• Prevents insurers from using prior authorization or step therapy rules that limit a patient's choice of birth control methods.
• Allows reasonable cost containment measures if they do not unreasonably limit access to coverage, such as encouraging generic medications.
• Requires coverage without extra fees for alternative contraceptive versions if the standard version is unavailable or medically inadvisable.
• Exempts religious employers who oppose this coverage and meet specific federal criteria from providing it.