THE HOUSE BUDGET proposal includes an outside section requiring the state’s commissioner of public health to launch a public information campaign promoting the availability of 12-month prescriptions for birth control.
The provision appears to address a problem identified by a recent CommonWealth article – the Legislature passed a law in 2017 requiring insurers to honor 12-month prescriptions for contraceptives but no one publicized the law so relatively few women took advantage of it.
The CommonWealth story said most women, insurers, and pharmacists were unaware the law existed, and those that did ran into roadblocks when they tried to obtain prescriptions or have them filled at pharmacies.
The House budget proposal would require the commissioner of public health to run a campaign bringing greater awareness to the law among women, insurers, and pharmacists.
The Massachusetts Association of Health Plans said last month it was launching an “aggressive awareness campaign” about the availability of 12-month birth control prescriptions. The association said the campaign would feature notices, emails, newsletters, and web pages of many insurers, including Harvard Pilgrim, Tufts Health Plan, Fallon Health, Health New England, BMC HealthNet Plan, and AllWays Health Partners.