Today's Senate debate on the Blunt amendment (PDF) on religious exemptions from insurance coverage of contraceptives prompted a spate of stories about state laws concerning contraceptive coverage. Here's a current, comprehensive report (PDF) from the Council of State Governments. According to the report, 28 states, including Michigan, mandate insurance coverage for contraceptives. Maryland was first in 1998, followed by California, Connecticut, Georgia, Hawaii, Nevada, New Hampshire, Maine, North Carolina and Vermont a year later. Since then, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado, Delaware, Illinois, Iowa, Massachusetts, Missouri, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Washington, West Virginia, and Wisconsin have passed laws mandating coverage. In 2006, Michigan's Civil Rights Commission ruled that if an employer’s health insurance plan covers other drugs and services, it must cover all contraceptive drugs and services. Montana mandates coverage as a result of an Attorney General opinion.
Of the states mandating coverage, the report says that eight states -- Colorado, Georgia, Iowa, Montana, Nevada, New Hampshire, Vermont, Washington, and Wisconsin, currently have no exemption for religious objections. A chart in the report characterizes the exemptions in the remaining states as "limited," "broader," or "expansive." Michigan's is called "broader." Hawaii's exemption, which the report says the Obama administration's revised exemption policy is based upon, is called "expansive."
