My Employer Shamed Me for Using Birth Control.

The Affordable Care Act makes effective birth control more affordable for millions of women by requiring employer-based health plans to include no-cost coverage for contraceptives. On March 25, the Supreme Court will hear arguments from companies that want to violate this law. Here is a story from one of the many women whose boss has tried to deny her birth control. For fear of losing her job, she requested to remain anonymous. Jessica is not her real name.

For the past three years, I have worked at the same Catholic university that I attended as a student. I love my job, and I can’t afford to lose it. But I’m afraid that I will be fired if I press my employer about whether contraception should be covered in our health plan. No one should be forced to choose between her job and her dignity, but that’s what I feel I’m being forced to do right now.

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For over a year, I had no problem getting my birth control pills covered. I went off of birth control to have a child — a beautiful baby girl. After she was born, I went back on the pill because my husband and I weren’t yet ready for another child.

You can imagine my surprise when my pharmacy told me out of the blue one day that my insurance company had denied coverage for my monthly prescription. Assuming it was just some sort of administrative error, I called my insurer. But there was no mistake — my employer had demanded that the insurance company refuse to cover birth control for employees unless they had a “prior authorization” from their OB-GYN. My doctor agreed to write a letter explaining that I needed birth control for contraceptive purposes. But according to the insurance company, family planning isn’t “medically necessary,” and the insurance company denied coverage again. I had to go back to my OB-GYN and ask her to tell the insurance company the second reason why I need birth control pills: to regulate my periods. My doctor did, and the authorization was ultimately accepted.