Gov. Mike Dunleavy vetoed a bill Sept. 4 that would have required insurance companies in Alaska to provide twelve months of birth control prescriptions at a time. Currently insurance companies cover one to three month prescriptions.
State House Rep. Ashley Carrick, D-Fairbanks, wrote the bill. She said it had strong bipartisan support. Carrick said she heard from hundreds of Alaskan women who supported the bill. She said if signed into law, it would have especially helped Alaskans in rural areas.
“Those women, in many cases, live or work in remote or rural portions of our state, so they don’t have the convenience of being able to get to a pharmacy to pick up the new prescription,” Carrick said.
Katie Van Atta, a nurse midwife and physician assistant practicing in Naknek and the Mat-Su Borough, said it’s always been a challenge for rural patients to get medications through the often-disrupted postal system.
“As we all know, there are lots of downstream repercussions that can happen if people aren’t able to access birth control in an efficient manner, such as unintended pregnancies [and] all of the attendant issues that arise there–care of a child. Sometimes people choose to have an abortion in that situation,” Van Atta said.
Van Atta said better access to birth control is especially crucial for people in controlling relationships, relationships with domestic violence, and for teenagers who want to access birth control confidentially.
Rep. Carrick also said increasing access to birth control reduces the need for abortions.
“The opposition testimony we had heard was mostly focused on this potential for birth control having wider availability, leading to increased rates of abortion,” Carrick said. “I just feel that that is: one, not played out in data on that subject, and two, not substantively part of the conversation on this legislation.”
According to a JAMA study, providing a year’s supply of birth control at a time to patients decreased unwanted pregnancies and reduced health care costs.
Dunleavy vetoed House Bill 17 because, according to a spokesperson, “Contraceptives are widely available, and compelling insurance companies to provide mandatory coverage for a year is bad policy.”
Carrick said Dunleavy’s office declined several attempts to discuss the bill with her, but in the future, she would love to be able to collaborate more with the Governor on the issue and address his concerns.
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Rachel Cassandra covers health and wellness for Alaska Public Media. Reach her atrcassandra@alaskapublic.org. Read more about Rachel here.
