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CLUW established the Contraceptive
Equity Project in the Spring of 2001 to inform union
members and all working women about legal, medical,
political and collective bargaining issues related
to gaining contraceptive coverage in health insurance
plans. Right now, women pay on average 68 percent
more out of pocket for health care expenses than men—largely
as a result of having to pay for contraception.
What
is Contraceptive Equity?
Contraceptive
equity means simple fairness. If a health plan covers
prescription drugs and devices, it has to cover contraception
too. In 2000, the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission
(EEOC) ruled that employers may not discriminate against
women in their health insurance plans by denying benefits
for prescription
contraceptives, if they provide benefits for drugs,
devices and services used to prevent other medical
conditions.
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CONTRACEPTIVE
INSURANCE COVERAGE
HAS IMPROVED DRAMATICALLY
State laws prove effective,
but there is more to be done
A study released in June 2004 shows that we have
come a long way on getting insurance plans to cover
contraception. However, it also notes that "too
little information was available from employers who
self-insure, typically large companies, to be meaningful.
About half of all employee benefit plans are administered
by the companies themselves and are not subject to the
state coverage mandates." MANY UNION PLANS FALL
INTO THIS CATEGORY -- SO THAT UNION WOMEN MUST CHECK
TO SEE IF THEIR PLANS COVER CONTRACEPTION... AND IF
THEY DON'T, THE ISSUE NEEDS TO BE PUSHED BY THE UNION
(the union can threaten the employer with a law suit
under Title VII of the 1964 Civil Rights Act). We
urge unions that have women's caucuses/committees to
circulate this.
In those states without mandates -- or State Attorney General interpretations of state employment law to cover contraceptive equity* -- unions need to work with those groups pushing for state laws/Attorney General opinions (often headed by Planned Parenthood in the state) to get them. States that still need to get contraceptive equity include: Alabama, Alaska, Colorado, Delaware, Florida, Hawaii, Idaho, Indiana, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Minnesota, Mississippi, Nebraska, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, and Wyoming.
*Wisconsin, Michigan and Montana |
