Policy Agenda

Birth Control Access Act – Implementation

The NY Birth Control Action Fund and the NY Birth Control Access Project led the advocacy and lobbying efforts to pass the Birth Control Access Act in 2023. This law authorizes pharmacists in New York to prescribe birth control and can increase the number of contraceptive providers in New York by 80%. It had been stalled in committee since 2015. However, there is much work to be done to implement the law.
Priority 1: Amendment to approve hormonal injection for pharmacists to prescribe and administer.
Priority 2: Payment for services covered by public and private health insurance.
Priority 3: Public awareness campaigns & pharmacists awareness campaigns.

Campuses with Emergency Contraception Act (S.4400A / A.4091A)

This legislation requires each institution within the State University of New York and the City University of New York systems to have at least one existing vending machine stocked with emergency contraception for purchase at a reduced price. Introduced by Senator Lea Webb and Assemblymember Jessica González-Rojas in 2023.
Priority: Passage in the 2024 New York State legislative session.

Comprehensive Contraception Coverage Act – Implementation

The CCCA requires state-regulated private insurance companies to fully cover a 12-month supply of birth control dispensed at one time. Additionally, since the approval of over the counter (OTC) birth control by the FDA, the CCCA offers an opportunity to cover OTC birth control without a prescription.
Priority 1: Expansion of private insurance coverage for OTC birth control without a prescription.
Priority 2: Enforcement and implementation of 12-month extended supply coverage.

Awareness Campaign for Birth Control Access

As New York passes laws and improves regulations to increase access to birth control, it is critical that providers, pharmacists, and patients are aware of improvements. Our objective is to include funding for an awareness campaign focused on birth control access in the state budget.
Priority: Awareness campaign funding to fully implement birth control related policies.

Medicaid Coverage

There is an opportunity for New York State Medicaid to cover OTC birth control without a prescription. Additionally, New York State Medicaid only covers six emergency contraceptives per year and is one of only six states with utilization controls using quantity limits– including Tennessee, where coverage is one per day.
Priority 1: Medicaid coverage of OTC birth control without a prescription.
Priority 2: Ease Medicaid utilization controls on emergency contraception.