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The morning-after pill is particularly controversial. It has no effect if a woman is already pregnant, but many religious conservatives consider it tantamount to an abortion drug. As recently as the 1990s, many health insurance plans didn't cover birth control. Protests, court cases, and new state laws led to dramatic changes. Today, almost all plans cover prescription contraceptives
-- but usually impose copays. Medicaid, the health care program for low-income people, also covers birth control. Costs for an individual woman vary depending on the form of birth control. Generics are available at Walmart pharmacies, for example, for around $9 a month. Brand-name contraceptives are more expensive, and some IUDs may cost $500 up front but last as long as 10 years. A government report suggests the average cost to insurers ranges from $26 to $41 a year per woman for providing the coverage. Q: What's been the reaction to Obama's concession? A: It will take time to see if it tamps down the furor. Some conservatives say it doesn't go far enough. They would like a conscience exemption for any employer, not just religious ones. Women's groups are relieved that Obama has proposed a plan that maintains access for all women. Catholic hospitals are saying they can support the compromise, as are anti-abortion Catholics who helped pass the health care overhaul in Congress. The bishops say they're still concerned but are reserving judgment until they talk with the administration. Q: How did the administration get itself into such a mess in the first place? A: Maybe they should have listened to people like Sister Carol Keehan, head of a Catholic hospitals trade group. She and other prominent Catholics defied the bishops to support passage of Obama's health care overhaul at a critical stage of the congressional debate. Democratic Catholic lawmakers thought they had an iron-clad deal with the administration to protect the conscience rights of religious employers.
[Associated
Press;
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