A large bipartisan majority of the Senate approved increased insurance coverage for birth control on Thursday. Alaskans may access up to 12 months worth of contraceptives at a time and without a co-pay from the state’s pharmacies if the bill becomes law.
House Bill 17 also requires health insurance companies to cover contraceptives without a co-payment and to retroactively cover existing prescriptions when Alaskans sign up for new insurance coverage.
Current law limits Alaskans to 90 days of birth control, which is a barrier to access, said the bill’s sponsor, Rep. Ashley Carrick, D-Fairbanks.
Sen. Löki Tobin, D-Anchorage, carried the bill in the Senate and said the change is important because many Alaskans cannot readily access pharmacies when they need to refill their prescriptions for birth control.
“We have folks who go off on fishing boats, who spend time on the North Slope, who are in communities that don’t have consistent mail access. Additionally, we have folks who go off to fish camp in the summer and may need their particular contraception for medical needs and necessity,” she said.
The bill exempts some religious employers and lawmakers removed all references to emergency contraception that were in the original bill.
She noted that former Anchorage lawmaker Berta Gardner and Sen. Matt Claman, D-Anchorage, have pushed for similar legislation since 2016.
Members of the Senate voted 16-3 to approve the bill. Sens. Robert Myers, R-North Pole, and Mike Shower and David Wilson, both R-Wasilla, voted against it. Sen. Shelley Hughes, R-Palmer was excused absent.
The bill will return to the House for concurrence on changes made in Senate committees. Carrick said the changes were all requested by Gov. Mike Dunleavy’s administration and are valuable to the bill’s implementation.
“I’m hoping that it’s not going to be a major political challenge for folks to vote for concurrence in the House,” she said.
If the House concurs, Dunleavy would decide whether to sign or veto the bill.
Carrick said timing is likely to be the biggest hurdle to final passage. Lawmakers must finish their business before midnight on May 15.
• Claire Stremple is a reporter based in Juneau who got her start in public radio at KHNS in Haines, and then on the health and environment beat at KTOO in Juneau. This article originally appeared online at alaskabeacon.com. Alaska Beacon, an affiliate of States Newsroom, is an independent, nonpartisan news organization focused on connecting Alaskans to their state government.
