With the fate of the Affordable Care Act and its provisions covering contraception up in the air in Washington, Massachusetts officials may take a step toward guaranteeing women access to birth control.
A bill before the Legislature's Financial Services Committee would require insurers to cover all FDA-approved contraceptives and related appointments, including popular options like intrauterine devices, without a co-pay.
Advocates like the ACLU's Carol Rose worry that the Trump administration or Congress will void the contraceptive access granted in the Affordable Care Act and say this bill would enshrine the same benefits in state law.
"This bill is tremendously important as it protects women in Massachusetts as they have the current protections already. So if they are taken away at the federal level, these protections would then remain in place for the people of Massachusetts, women and their families to make the most fundamental economic and health care decisions about their families imaginable," Rose told WGBH.
The bill has support from about 60 percent of lawmakers. More importantly, it's supported by the powerful health insurance lobby, which can influence legislative leaders to bring the bill to a vote.
Lora Pellegrini is the president of the Massachusetts Association of Health Plans, which represents 17 health insurance plans and a total of 2.6 million residents. She says the insurers are on board to codify the current federal system into state law.
"Because women feel under siege. And we don't know - I live the affordable care act every day - and we don't know what's going to come out of Washington. But what my plans feel strongly about is we don't wanna erode protections granted to women under the affordable care act," Pellegrini said.
Though the bill has majority support in the House and Senate, the fact that the health insurers have already compromised on a plan gives it more likelihood to pass, should Legislative leaders bring it to a vote. Health insurers typically resist the Legislature's urge to add new mandates for what must be covered in their plans.
If the bill were to pass the Legislature, it would go to Republican Gov. Charlie Baker for a final signature to become law. Baker has pledged this year to offset cuts federal officials may make to Planned Parenthood. But Baker's approval of the contraceptive bill may hinge on whether the federal government makes a move to limit the prescription benefits for birth control.
In a statement, Baker Administration communications director Lizzy Guyton said the governor is pleased with the compromise reached by the insurers and advocates.
"In the event the federal government pursues any changes that would affect women’s health services for Massachusetts, the administration is fully prepared to protect access to these services and the Governor will carefully review any legislation that reaches his desk," Guyton wrote.
One stumbling block before the coalition of groups putting forward the bill could be the Catholic Church, which still holds some influence over many members of the House and Senate.
"Over the years, the Church, from the United States Catholic Conference of Bishops, has been concerned about the federal mandate on contraceptives and we have consistently made our point that the church should be exempt from that and we would make the same case here," James Driscoll, executive director of the Massachusetts Catholic Conference, told WGBH.
Driscoll's organization represents the public policy interests of the four Roman Catholic dioceses in Massachusetts. Driscoll said he'll work with Lawmakers and advocates to carve out exemptions from the mandate for employees of the Catholic Church.
The bill already exempts insurance policies "purchased by an employer that is a church or qualified church-controlled organization."
"We want to make sure that the exemptions are strong enough, that it somehow doesn't mandate Catholic
Churches, Catholic organizations be covered by this bill and I'll be working with the committee myself to make sure that if there's a sense that this'll pass that there are exemptions for the church," Driscoll said.
