NY State Senate Bill 2017-S7368

Senate Bill S7368

2017-2018 Legislative Session

Relates to allowing individuals to obtain a twelve month supply of contraception at one time

download bill text pdf

Archive: Last Bill Status - In Senate Committee Insurance Committee

Introduced
- In Committee Assembly
- In Committee Senate
- On Floor Calendar Assembly
- On Floor Calendar Senate
- Passed Assembly
- Passed Senate
Delivered to Governor
Signed By Governor

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	Assembly Actions - Lowercase Senate Actions - UPPERCASE
Jan 10, 2018	referred to insurance

2017-S7368 (ACTIVE) - Details

See Assembly Version of this Bill:: A579
Current Committee:: Senate Insurance
Law Section:: Insurance Law
Laws Affected:: Amd §§3221, 4303, 4322 & 3216, Ins L; amd §365-a, Soc Serv L
Versions Introduced in 2019-2020 Legislative Session:: S5061

2017-S7368 (ACTIVE) - Summary

Relates to allowing individuals to obtain a twelve month supply of contraceptive at one time, with a three month supply of a contraceptive for the initial dispensing of the contraceptive and a twelve month supply of the same contraceptive for all subsequent dispensings.

2017-S7368 (ACTIVE) - Sponsor Memo

                                
 
BILL NUMBER: S7368

SPONSOR: PARKER
 
TITLE OF BILL:  An act to amend the insurance law and the social
services law, in relation to allowing individuals to obtain a twelve
month supply of contraception at one time

 
PURPOSE:

This bill will allow individuals to obtain a twelve month supply of
contraception at one time.

 
SUMMARY OF SPECIFIC PROVISIONS:

Section one amends subsection (1) of section 3221 of the insurance law.

Section two amends subsection (cc) of section 4303 of the insurance law.

Section three amends paragraph 25 of subsection (b) of section 4322 of
the insurance law.

Section four amends subparagraph E of paragraph 17 of subsection (i) of
section 3216 of the insurance law.

Section five amends paragraph (d) of subdivision 3 of section 365-a of
the social services law.

Section six sets forth the effective date.

 
JUSTIFICATION:

Women lead busy lives: nearly 70% of women with a child under the age of
18 also work outside the home. Repeat trips to the pharmacy to refill a
birth control prescription every month is an inconvenient and tiresome
process. For women living in rural areas where pharmacies are spread out
geographically, access to birth control can be even more erratic. The
vast majority of insurance policies offered in New York State complicate
matters by limiting women to a 30-day supply of oral contraceptives.

There is no health-related reason to limit women's access to oral
contraceptives to 30 or 90 days. This bill enables doctors and other
health-care providers to prescribe up to a 12-month supply of self-ad-
ministered hormonal contraception. Not only will this eliminate the
hurdles to receiving consistent and effective birth control, but most
importantly, it gives women the power to determine their own reproduc-
tive futures. Women who received a year's supply of birth control pills
were 30 percent less likely to have an unplanned pregnancy than those
who received either a one-month or three-month supply, according to a
2011 study published in Obstetrics and Gynecology.

Access to a longer-term contraceptive supply will reduce the potential
for skipped doses and help reduce instances of unintended pregnancy as a
result of contraceptive failure.

 
LEGISLATIVE HISTORY:

This is a new bill.

 
FISCAL IMPLICATIONS:
Undetermined.

 
EFFECTIVE DATE:
This act shall take effect immediately, and shall apply to policies and
contacts issued, renewed, modified, altered or amended on or after such
effective date.

2017-S7368 (ACTIVE) - Bill Text download pdf

                            
 
                     S T A T E   O F   N E W   Y O R K
 ________________________________________________________________________
 
                                   7368
 
                             I N  S E N A T E
 
                             January 10, 2018
                                ___________
 
 Introduced  by  Sen.  PARKER -- read twice and ordered printed, and when
   printed to be committed to the Committee on Insurance
 
 AN ACT to amend the insurance  law  and  the  social  services  law,  in
   relation  to  allowing  individuals to obtain a twelve month supply of
   contraception at one time
 
   THE PEOPLE OF THE STATE OF NEW YORK, REPRESENTED IN SENATE AND  ASSEM-
 BLY, DO ENACT AS FOLLOWS:
 
   Section  1. The opening paragraph of paragraph 16 of subsection (l) of
 section 3221 of the insurance law, as added by chapter 554 of  the  laws
 of 2002, is amended to read as follows:
   Every group or blanket policy which provides coverage for prescription
 drugs  shall  include  coverage  for  the cost of contraceptive drugs or
 devices approved by the federal food and drug administration or  generic
 equivalents approved as substitutes by such food and drug administration
 under  the  prescription of a health care provider legally authorized to
 prescribe under title eight of the education law.   THIS COVERAGE  SHALL
 ALLOW  FOR  A  THREE  MONTH  SUPPLY  OF  A CONTRACEPTIVE FOR THE INITIAL
 DISPENSING OF THE CONTRACEPTIVE AND A TWELVE MONTH SUPPLY  OF  THE  SAME
 CONTRACEPTIVE  FOR  ALL SUBSEQUENT DISPENSINGS TO THE CERTIFICATE HOLDER
 REGARDLESS OF WHETHER SUCH CERTIFICATE HOLDER WAS ENROLLED IN THE POLICY
 AT THE TIME OF THE INITIAL DISPENSING. The  coverage  required  by  this
 section  shall be included in policies and certificates only through the
 addition of a rider.
   § 2. Subsection (cc) of section 4303 of the insurance law, as added by
 chapter 554 of the laws of 2002, is amended to read as follows:
   (cc) Every contract which provides  coverage  for  prescription  drugs
 shall  include  coverage  for the cost of contraceptive drugs or devices
 approved by the federal food and drug administration or  generic  equiv-
 alents  approved  as  substitutes  by  such food and drug administration
 under the prescription of a health care provider legally  authorized  to
 prescribe  under  title  eight of the education law. THIS COVERAGE SHALL
 ALLOW FOR A THREE MONTH  SUPPLY  OF  A  CONTRACEPTIVE  FOR  THE  INITIAL
 DISPENSING  OF  THE  CONTRACEPTIVE AND A TWELVE MONTH SUPPLY OF THE SAME
 CONTRACEPTIVE FOR ALL SUBSEQUENT DISPENSINGS TO THE  INSURED  REGARDLESS
 
  EXPLANATION--Matter in ITALICS (underscored) is new; matter in brackets

                       [ ] is old law to be omitted.
                                                            LBD01936-01-7

 S. 7368                             2
 
 OF  WHETHER  THE  INSURED WAS ENROLLED UNDER THE CONTRACT AT THE TIME OF
 THE INITIAL DISPENSING. The coverage required by this section  shall  be
 included  in  contracts  and certificates only through the addition of a
 rider.
   §  3.  Paragraph 25 of subsection (b) of section 4322 of the insurance
 law, as added by chapter 504 of the laws of 1995 and the  opening  para-
 graph  as amended by chapter 388 of the laws of 2013, is amended to read
 as follows:
   (25) Prescription drugs,  including  contraceptive  drugs  or  devices
 approved  by  the federal food and drug administration or generic equiv-
 alents approved as substitutes by such food and drug administration  and
 nutritional supplements (formulas), whether administered orally or via a
 feeding tube for the therapeutic treatment of phenylketonuria, branched-
 chain  ketonuria, galactosemia and homocystinuria, obtained at a partic-
 ipating pharmacy under a prescription written by an in-plan  or  out-of-
 plan   provider.   Health  maintenance  organizations,  in  addition  to
 providing coverage for prescription drugs at a  participating  pharmacy,
 may  utilize  a mail order prescription drug program. Health maintenance
 organizations may provide prescription drugs pursuant to a  drug  formu-
 lary;  however,  health  maintenance  organizations  must  implement  an
 appeals process so that the use of non-formulary prescription drugs  may
 be requested by a physician or other provider.
   WITH  RESPECT TO CONTRACEPTIVE DRUGS, ANY PLAN SHALL ALLOW FOR A THREE
 MONTH SUPPLY OF A  CONTRACEPTIVE  FOR  THE  INITIAL  DISPENSING  OF  THE
 CONTRACEPTIVE  AND  A  TWELVE MONTH SUPPLY OF THE SAME CONTRACEPTIVE FOR
 ALL SUBSEQUENT DISPENSINGS TO THE ENROLLEE.
   Health maintenance organizations shall impose  a  one  hundred  dollar
 individual  deductible  and a three hundred dollar family deductible per
 calendar year for prescription drugs obtained at a participating pharma-
 cy. Health maintenance organizations may  not  impose  a  deductible  on
 prescriptions obtained through the mail order drug program.
   In addition to the deductible, a ten dollar copayment shall be imposed
 on  up  to  a  thirty-four  day  supply of brand name prescription drugs
 obtained at a participating pharmacy. A five dollar copayment  shall  be
 imposed  on up to a thirty-four day supply of generic prescription drugs
 or brand name drugs for which there is no generic equivalent obtained at
 a participating pharmacy.
   If a mail order drug program is utilized, a  twenty  dollar  copayment
 shall  be  imposed  on  a  ninety  day supply of brand name prescription
 drugs. A ten dollar copayment shall be imposed on a ninety day supply of
 generic prescription drugs or brand name drugs for  which  there  is  no
 generic equivalent obtained through the mail order drug program.
   In  no  event  shall  the  copayment exceed the cost of the prescribed
 drug.
   § 4. Subparagraph (E) of paragraph 17 of  subsection  (i)  of  section
 3216  of the insurance law is amended by adding a new clause (v) to read
 as follows:
   (V) CONTRACEPTIVES, ALLOWING FOR A THREE MONTH SUPPLY FOR THE  INITIAL
 DISPENSING  OF  THE  CONTRACEPTIVE AND A TWELVE MONTH SUPPLY OF THE SAME
 CONTRACEPTIVE FOR ALL SUBSEQUENT DISPENSINGS TO THE  INSURED  REGARDLESS
 OF  WHETHER THE INSURED WAS ENROLLED UNDER THE POLICY AT THE TIME OF THE
 INITIAL DISPENSING.
   § 5. Paragraph (d) of subdivision 3 of section  365-a  of  the  social
 services  law,  as  amended  by  chapter  909 of the laws of 1974 and as
 relettered by chapter 82 of the laws of 1995,  is  amended  to  read  as
 follows:

 S. 7368                             3
 
   (d)  family  planning  services and supplies, INCLUDING CONTRACEPTION,
 for eligible persons of childbearing age, including children under twen-
 ty-one years of age who can be considered sexually  active,  who  desire
 such  services  and  supplies,  in  accordance  with the requirements of
 federal  law  and  regulations and the regulations of the department. No
 person shall  be  compelled  or  coerced  to  accept  such  services  or
 supplies.    WITH  RESPECT  TO CONTRACEPTION, COVERAGE SHALL ALLOW FOR A
 THREE MONTH SUPPLY OF A CONTRACEPTIVE FOR THE INITIAL DISPENSING OF  THE
 CONTRACEPTIVE  AND  A  TWELVE MONTH SUPPLY OF THE SAME CONTRACEPTIVE FOR
 ALL SUBSEQUENT DISPENSINGS.
   § 6. This act shall take effect immediately, and shall apply to  poli-
 cies  and  contracts issued, renewed, modified, altered or amended on or
 after such effective date.

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