Affordability is Access Act
Latest action · Jun 13, 2019 Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Progress
Where this bill reached, and when. A stage with no date was not reached; one that failed a vote and later carried shows the date it carried.
- IntroducedJun 13, 2019
- Passed SenateNot reached
- Passed HouseNot reached
- To the PresidentNot reached
- Became lawNot reached
Summary
Affordability is Access Act
This bill establishes several requirements relating to health-insurance coverage of, and access to, over-the-counter contraceptives.
Specifically, the bill requires the Department of Health and Human Services, the Department of Labor, and the Department of the Treasury to specify that private health-insurance plans must cover over-the-counter contraceptives that are approved by the Food and Drug Administration (FDA), even without a prescription. Under current law, private health-insurance plans (with some exceptions) must cover FDA-approved prescription contraceptives, without cost-sharing requirements.
The bill also prohibits retailers from interfering with an individual's access to oral contraceptives that are meant for routine, daily use and are FDA-approved for use without a prescription.
Cosponsors 30
Members who signed on, in the order they did. Signatures ran from Jun 13, 2019 to Jun 27, 2019; 27 are original cosponsors, there from the day it was introduced.
| Seat | Cosponsor | Signed on | |
|---|---|---|---|
| D-MN | Amy Klobuchar | Original | Jun 13, 2019 |
| I-VT | Bernard Sanders | Original | Jun 13, 2019 |
| D-MD | Chris Van Hollen | Original | Jun 13, 2019 |
| D-NJ | Cory A. Booker | Original | Jun 13, 2019 |
| D-MI | Debbie Stabenow | Original | Jun 13, 2019 |
| D-CA | Dianne Feinstein | Original | Jun 13, 2019 |
| D-MA | Edward J. Markey | Original | Jun 13, 2019 |
| D-MA | Elizabeth Warren | Original | Jun 13, 2019 |
| D-MI | Gary C. Peters | Original | Jun 13, 2019 |
| D-RI | Jack Reed | Original | Jun 13, 2019 |
| D-NH | Jeanne Shaheen | Original | Jun 13, 2019 |
| D-OR | Jeff Merkley | Original | Jun 13, 2019 |
| D-CA | Kamala D. Harris | Original | Jun 13, 2019 |
| D-NY | Kirsten E. Gillibrand | Original | Jun 13, 2019 |
| D-NH | Margaret Wood Hassan | Original | Jun 13, 2019 |
| D-WA | Maria Cantwell | Original | Jun 13, 2019 |
| D-HI | Mazie K. Hirono | Original | Jun 13, 2019 |
| D-CO | Michael F. Bennet | Original | Jun 13, 2019 |
| D-VT | Patrick J. Leahy | Original | Jun 13, 2019 |
| D-CT | Richard Blumenthal | Original | Jun 13, 2019 |
| D-NJ | Robert Menendez | Original | Jun 13, 2019 |
| D-OR | Ron Wyden | Original | Jun 13, 2019 |
| D-OH | Sherrod Brown | Original | Jun 13, 2019 |
| D-WI | Tammy Baldwin | Original | Jun 13, 2019 |
| D-IL | Tammy Duckworth | Original | Jun 13, 2019 |
| D-VA | Tim Kaine | Original | Jun 13, 2019 |
| D-MN | Tina Smith | Original | Jun 13, 2019 |
| D-HI | Brian Schatz | Jun 18, 2019 | |
| D-NV | Jacky Rosen | Jun 18, 2019 | |
| D-RI | Sheldon Whitehouse | Jun 27, 2019 |
Committees 1
Where it was sent and what each committee and subcommittee did with it, in order.
| Chamber | Committee | What it did |
|---|---|---|
| Senate | Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions Committee | Referred Jun 13, 2019 |
Actions 2
Everything that happened, newest first.
- Jun 13, 2019Introduced in Senate
- Jun 13, 2019Read twice and referred to the Committee on Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions.
Research
What has been written about this bill: committee reports, cost estimates, the sponsor’s authority statement, printed hearings and the Congressional Research Service’s work.
CRS reports 1
Congressional Research Service work that CRS links to this bill or the law it became, newest first.
Cite it 1
Products on other subjects that cite it, usually among other measures.
| Product | Title | Kind | Published |
|---|---|---|---|
| R45928 | The Federal Contraceptive Coverage Requirement: Past and Pending Legal Challenges Archived | Report | Apr 28, 2020 |
Related bills 2
Companion bills and other measures the record links to this one.
| Bill | Title | Relationship | Latest action |
|---|---|---|---|
| HR 3296 | Affordability is Access Act | Related bill | Jun 17, 2019 |
| S 4347 | Affordability is Access Act | Reintroduced Bill | May 26, 2022 |
Titles 2
Every title it has carried, official and short, at each stage.
- Official Title as Introduced
- A bill to require group health plans and group or individual health insurance coverage to provide coverage for over-the-counter contraceptives.
- Short Title(s) as Introduced
- Affordability is Access Act
Subjects
Assigned by the Library of Congress. Policy area: Health.
Text 1
Each version as it was printed, newest first.
- Jun 13, 2019Introduced in Senate
Everything here is as published by Congress: the summary is the Congressional Research Service's, the action wording is the clerks', and the subjects are the Library of Congress's. How far it got is read from the actions themselves, taking the most recent one of each kind, so a bill that failed a vote and later passed is shown as having passed. Records come from this bill on Congress.gov and govinfo.gov; cost estimates are the Congressional Budget Office's, and the hearings are the printed hearings GovInfo publishes, which can appear months after the hearing.
