Insurance Coverage of Contraceptives

Contraception ensures that we have the right to decide whether we have children and when we have children. This fact sheet from the Guttmacher Institute provides an overview of federal and state insurance coverage for contraception.

States require that health insurance plans they regulate that cover prescription drugs cover contraception. However, states cannot regulate self-insured employers. This is where federal law applies.

Federal law requires that insurers and plans cover all FDA-approved contraceptives that one’s healthcare provider deems medically appropriate. It also requires coverage for emergency contraception that’s prescribed.

This resource includes a table that addresses insurance coverage in each state. It highlights whether prescription and over-the-counter methods, extended supply, and sterilization is covered. The table also includes cost sharing and whether religious employers can refuse coverage.

Since the mid-1990s, states have required health insurance plans regulated by the state that provide coverage of prescription drugs and devices to also cover prescription contraceptives. Under a provision of the Affordable Care Act, federal law expanded on these state policies in several ways. The federal contraceptive coverage guarantee applies to most private health plans nationwide, whether sold to employers, schools or individuals, or whether offered by employers that self-insure, i.e., use their own funds to cover employees’ claims.

SOURCE: Guttmacher Institute • LAST UPDATED: January 2, 2025