Copyright 2000 The Buffalo News
The Buffalo News
December 19, 2000, Tuesday, FINAL EDITION
SECTION: EDITORIAL PAGE, Pg. 6B
LENGTH: 379 words
HEADLINE:
BIRTH CONTROL AND EQUAL RIGHTS
BODY:
Employers who do not yet provide coverage for prescription
contraceptives should heed the recent ruling by the Equal
Employment Opportunity Commission. The commission found that it is
discriminatory for an employer's health plan to exclude
contraceptives if prescription drugs and preventive care are
otherwise covered. And it constitutes unlawful sex discrimination under Title
VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964. The commission's decision is a response to
charges filed with the agency by two nurses who claim that the company that
employs them is engaging in an unlawful employment practice because of its
failure to cover prescription contraceptives when it covers
other prescription drugs.
The commission made its ruling based on the
Federal Pregnancy Discrimination Act, which forbids workplace discrimination
against women because of pregnancy, childbirth or related conditions. It's an
interpretation the courts should weigh as heavily as did the commission. The
effect of this is to put all employers who have the same kind of exclusion on
notice that they're violating Title VII. And while it's difficult to know what
motivates employers to exclude contraceptive coverage, it's
possible they may not have considered that this is a form of gender
discrimination.
The exclusion of contraceptives in
health plans is discriminatory on the basis of pregnancy, and contraception is
aimed at preventing pregnancy and thereby covered by the Pregnancy
Discrimination Act, said Judy Appelbaum, a vice president at the National
Women's Law Center in Washington, D.C.
Surveys of health plans a few
years ago found that it was common for large group-health plans to exclude
contraception, Appelbaum added. That, combined with the outcry when Viagra was
approved and covered by employers that exclude women's
contraceptives, caused the issue to come to the fore.
The law center also is advocating new state and federal legislation to
require all insurers to cover prescription contraceptives in
plans that cover other prescription drugs.
This is a victory for all
women who deserve better access through insurance coverage. And
it's a wake-up call for employers who don't offer this coverage that they may be
discriminating against their female employees.
LOAD-DATE: December 21, 2000