Improve Contraceptive Access in Missouri

I ask that you support HB2190 (Peters), SB821 (McCreery), SB1317 (Gannon), HB1874 (Lewis), HB2295 (Ingle), and SB1128 (McCreery. These bills make necessary improvements to contraceptive access in Missouri, like requiring insurance companies to cover a full year of oral contraception, after a doctor prescribes it. This enables individuals who want to use oral contraception to prevent pregnancy to be able to have fewer missed doses and increase medication compliance, resulting in fewer unwanted pregnancies. A 2019 study from the Veterans Affairs healthcare system followed over 24,000 women to see how annual birth control impacted them. The VA showed an annual savings of over $2,000,000 and prevented over 500 unintended pregnancies. Women in the study had fewer missed doses and were able to avoid any coverage gaps caused by pharmacy slow downs or scheduling issues. Oral contraception is especially effective at preventing unwanted pregnancies. These pregnancies can be very expensive to a household, especially when low wage workers are less likely to have paid family leave. When unplanned pregnancies include surprises like bed rest, it is easy to see how supporting annual contraception is a sound financial choice for a family. Families in rural sections of our state will especially benefit from having an annual supply of medication. They are more likely to have to travel to pharmacies which may not be in their communities. Rural households in poverty also often struggle with transportation, further increasing the barriers to filling their birth control prescriptions every 30 or 90 days. All families in our state should have the chance to decide when and how to have children, especially households with fewer resources. I urge you to support these important bills.