Are You Eligible for No Co-Pay Birth Control? A Handy Guide to Find Out

It's a big day for contraception. But the ins and outs of the policy implementation mean many women won't get covered.

By Julianne Hing Aug 01, 2012

Today’s the day. Under President Obama’s health care reform law, insurance companies must begin providing no co-pay contraception. But the ins and outs of it are much more complex, and as it is, only a fraction of the 98 million women in the U.S. will qualify. At a very basic level, only so many women will be eligible because only so many women in the U.S. are insured. According to the [CDC](http://www.cdc.gov/nchs/fastats/womens_health.htm), 16 percent of women under the age of 60 have no health insurance, but the [numbers are higher](http://www.kff.org/minorityhealth/upload/7886AccessandUtilization.pdf) when we zero in on different subgroups. More than one in ten white women are uninsured, as are 37 percent of Latinas and 22 percent of black women. Nearly 34 percent of all Native American women and over 18 percent of Asian and Pacific Islander American women have no insurance. But if you’re a woman with private health insurance and your plan [fits the various restrictions](http://abcnews.go.com/Politics/OTUS/fact-checking-free-birth-control-day/story?id=16900144#.UBl1PzFYtjE), you may be eligible for free birth control. The [National Women’s Law Center](http://www.nwlc.org/resource/how-find-out-if-and-when-your-health-plan-will-begin-covering-women%E2%80%99s-preventive-services-n) has a handy guide, including a script, for you to figure out if, when and how you can begin to receive no co-pay contraception.