| The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) conclude that if EC were available to all women in the U.S., 1.2M unintended pregnancies could be avoided and the annual number of abortions would be reduced by 800,000. |
| Advancing women's health by creating an environment in which the public and elected officials confidently support women's health policy. |
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|  | Resources for the Business Community |
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| | | | The toolkit, published by the National Business Group on Health with support from the Maternal and Child Health Bureau, outlines the unique opportunity that employers' have to improve the health of women and children through health benefit design, beneficiary education and engagement, and health promotion programs. |
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| | | | The Leading Advocate for Working Women |
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| 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.
Contraceptive use facilitates better spacing of pregnancies, which leads to healthier outcomes, fewer unintended pregnancies, and fewer abortions. Contraceptives can be expensive, and without insurance coverage, many women are forced to either forego using contraceptives completely or to use less effective methods. |
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| It Saves $ and Makes Sense
Studies show that health insurers can save money by preventing unintended pregnancy. It's basic common sense:
$10,000... Average mother and infant cost for one pregnancy
$450... Average cost for first trimester abortion
$360... Average cost for one year supply of birth control pills
Compared to the high costs of labor, delivery and health care for unplanned pregnancy, studies show that all methods of prescription contraception are very cost effective.
Given the high rate of unintended pregnancy in the U.S., a health plan need only increase its members' use of contraception by 15% to save enough health care dollars to pay for contraception for everyone in the plan.
The bottom line: it only costs an employer approximately $1.43 per employee per month to add full contraception benefits to a health plan. |
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