State laws cannot regulate self-insured employers, which cover about 60% of insured workers nationwide. Judge Orders Coverage of Birth Control ... and your own pills aren’t covered, it’s kind of a no-brainer,” she said. “So with no precedence, it’s just a brand new subject.”The company added contraceptives for union workers in April. But Nouhavandi, the pharmacist, told Insider those claims aren't entirely accurate. Of those women, 27% use the birth control pill. It may include things like approved drugs from the Blue Care Network drug list, insulin and contraceptives. But a motion by Planned Parenthood thwarted the company’s plans to extend that coverage to nonunion employees, including Erickson, until the judge ruled.“It’s clear that we were singled out by Planned Parenthood in this suit because we are recognized as a good employer,” Barber said.Planned Parenthood lawyer Roberta Riley said she expects the Seattle decision to withstand any appeal and to influence employers as well as other courts.“It’s a decision that’s based on federal law, and this federal law applies to every company that has 15 or more employees anywhere in the country,” she said.Women’s groups hailed the ruling as a triumph in the contraceptive coverage battles playing out in Congress, statehouses and courts.“It sends a clear message to employers that if they are offering otherwise comprehensive health insurance to their employees, they can not exclude contraceptives,” said Judy Appelbaum, a vice president at the National Women’s Law Center.But business groups said the decision could just as easily prompt employers to cut back on benefits to avoid having to add contraceptives.“It is just one more wrinkle, one more mandate now that employers have to follow when they voluntarily provide health-care coverage for their employees,” said Randy Johnson, vice president of labor and employee benefit policy for the U.S. Chamber of Commerce. “It’s just another burr under the saddle that may drive employers away from voluntarily providing health-care coverage for their employees.”The legal challenge, with its Web site (https://www.covermypills.com), is part of a broader effort to expand access to birth control that picked up steam after employers began covering the male impotency drug Viagra.Birth control pills are covered by 87% of large HMOs and 60% of conventional, fee-for-service insurance plans, according to a national survey last year by the nonpartisan Kaiser Family Foundation, a Palo Alto-based health-care research organization.According to Kaiser, 93% of women at risk of unintended pregnancy practice some form of contraception. More recently, some states have amended and expanded their own requirements to match the standard set in the federal guarantee, specifically requiring coverage for the full range of contraceptive methods, counseling and services used by women; eliminating out-of-pocket costs; and limiting other health plan restrictions. She has worked for Bartell for 18 months and was recently promoted to pharmacy manager. "I'm very outgoing and outspoken," Erickson says. * Religious insurers are not exempt from the mandate but may provide contraceptive coverage through a subcontract with another insurer or third-party entity.€ The state’s law allows pharmacists to dispense the full amount of a prescription at one time, including contraception, but there is no requirement that health insurance plans cover the cost of accessing a year’s worth of contraceptives at one time.Ө The state explicitly includes coverage for contraception that is prescribed and dispensed by a pharmacist. Erickson is challenging one of the longest-standing disparities in medicine. She left The Times in 2015.Residents in part of Arcadia were told to evacuate Sunday morning as the Bobcat fire in the Angeles National Forest posed new dangers.Record heat. The explosive Creek fire, fueled by beetle-killed trees, is a hint of the Sierra Nevada’s future unless California greatly expands prescribed burns.R&B icons Patti LaBelle and Gladys Knight will compete in a good-natured Verzuz battle featuring their many hits tonight. “And the cool thing is that’s what the judge thinks too.”Erickson said she filed the suit after growing frustrated, as an employee and as a pharmacist, that her company and others refused to help pay for contraceptives.“When you’re a pharmacist, and you are filling prescriptions and your own pills aren’t covered, it’s kind of a no-brainer,” she said. And while the young newlywed is new to activism, the role of crusader for women's rights seems to be coming quite naturally. 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