Under Health Law, ‘No-Cost’ Birth Control Starts Today

Beginning today, most new and renewing health insurance plans must begin offering a broad array of women’s preventive health services, most notably coverage of birth control, at no upfront cost.

But even as they take effect, the new rules remain the subject of legal challenges.

That didn’t stop Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius from taking a victory lap of sorts Tuesday on Capitol Hill. Surrounded by more than a half-dozen Democratic senators who voted for the health law, she noted that before the law was passed, many insurance plans either didn’t cover basic women’s health services, or they charged high deductibles or copayments.