S.Amdt. 3997

SA 3997. Mr. CARPER submitted an amendment intended to be proposed by
him to the bill H.R. 6157, making appropriations for the Department of
Defense for the fiscal year ending September 30, 2019, and for other
purposes; which was ordered to lie on the table; as follows:

At the appropriate place in title II of division B, insert
the following:
Sec. __. (a) Of the amounts made available in this Act for
the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention, the Secretary
of Health and Human Services, acting through the Director of
the Division of Reproductive Health of the Centers for
Disease Control and Prevention, shall use $25,000,000 to
establish a grant program to fund State programs to reduce
unplanned pregnancy and improve access to contraception, in
accordance with subsections (b) and (c).
(b) An entity receiving grant funds described in subsection
(a)--
(1) may use such funds for--
(A) provider contraception training, including for
contraceptive method use and insertion, and for pregnancy
intention screening;
(B) consumer education;
(C) facilitating same-day access to the full range of
contraceptive methods;
(D) reducing out-of-pocket cost barriers to the full range
of contraceptive methods where such barriers are not already
addressed;
(E) facilitating collaboration among public and private
health systems to ensure that individuals can access
contraceptive care in a timely manner; or
(F) other activities that grant applicants can demonstrate
would help to improve contraceptive access in the State or
community; and
(2) shall use such funds to--
(A) provide contraceptive care that is non-coercive,
culturally competent care, and medically accurate;
(B) provide information and access to the full range of
methods of contraception approved by the Food and Drug
Administration, or to fill existing gaps in information and
access to such contraception, so as to ensure equitable
access to the full range of contraceptive options; and
(C) evaluate projects funded by such grant, in order to
demonstrate outcomes such as reducing gaps in contraceptive
use, increasing points of access for the full range of
contraceptive methods approved by the Food and Drug
Administration, and patient satisfaction with provider
encounter and method choice.
(c) To be eligible for a grant described in subsection (a),
an entity shall be--
(1) a State, local, or tribal government;
(2) a public-private partnership; or
(3) a nonprofit entity.
(d) Congress finds as follows:
(1) Contraception is basic health care for women, and women
need access to all birth control methods so that they can use
the specific birth control that is right for them.
(2) Removing barriers to access to birth control so that
women can plan, space, and prevent pregnancies is critically
important for women's health and economic security, as well
as the health of any children they may decide to have in the
future. Access to birth control is linked to women's greater
educational and professional opportunities and increased
lifetime earnings.
(3) The Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (Public
Law 111-148) has removed cost barriers to birth control for
over 62,400,000 women, but other non-cost barriers remain,
and some women still do not have insurance coverage of birth
control.
(4) A woman's chances of unintended pregnancy increase
considerably when barriers prevent her from using birth
control consistently and correctly.
(5) In recent years, States have taken proactive steps to
increase women's access to the birth control method of their
choice, as follows:
(A) Several States, including Delaware, Iowa, and Colorado
have implemented successful initiatives that include training
of providers and consumer education to improve access to the
full range of contraceptive methods, resulting in significant
reductions in unplanned pregnancy.
(B) At least 12 States (including California, the District
of Columbia, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland,
Massachusetts, Nevada, New York, Oregon, Vermont, and
Washington) have passed laws requiring coverage of all birth
control methods approved by the Food and Drug Administration,
without out-of-pocket costs.
(C) At least 12 States (including California, Colorado, the
District of Columbia, Delaware, Illinois, Maine,
Massachuettes, Maryland, Nevada, New Mexico, New York, and
Ohio) have passed laws requiring coverage of 12 months of
birth control dispensed at one time.
(D) At least 7 States (including California, Delaware,
Illinois, Maryland, Massachusetts, Nevada, and Oregon) have
passed laws requiring coverage of over-the-counter methods of
birth control without requiring a prescription.
(E) In 2018, the Utah State legislature passed a bill
requiring the State to apply for a Medicaid family planning
eligibility expansion with the Centers for Medicare &
Medicaid Services. When approved, Utah will become the 27th
State with such an expansion.
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