DFLers waded into the raging national contraception debate Tuesday with a call for a new law that would require insurers to cover birth control without co-pays.
More than half the states have similar laws, but the "Contraceptive Equity Act" introduced by Assistant House Minority Leader Erin Murphy, DFL-St. Paul, and Rep. Tim Mahoney, DFL-St. Paul, comes at a time of heightened controversy over birth control. Republicans in the Legislature were lining up to oppose the bill before it was officially introduced.
Murphy said the legislation's timing is not a coincidence.
"The gains made by generations of women before us to ensure our independence economically and in private health care matters are under attack," said Murphy, flanked at the news conference by a crowd of women. "And I want, we want, Minnesota women to know that we will not wither under such attacks.
"Instead," she said, "we will fight to protect basic health care, including contraception, so women remain in control over this fundamental decision in their lives."
The bill would exempt health plans that serve religious employers, although those plans would be required to offer contraceptive coverage directly to those employees.
Assistant Senate Majority Leader David Hann, R-Eden Prairie, said Minnesota already requires insurers to cover 68 drugs, procedures and conditions, including mandatory coverage for hair transplants.
"We have lost sight of what insurance is supposed to be for," Hann said. "Insurance should be there to cover large [health care] costs that are unanticipated or that are very costly and are maybe beyond the ability of most people to afford. That's what insurance does."