Annapolis, Md -- Today, Maryland Senator Roger Manno appealed to Health and Human Services Secretary Kathleen Sebelius, urging Administration policy that women's reproductive services be recognized as preventative health services in the new federal health reforms. "While Congress and the White House continue to debate the federal debt ceiling, HHS is determining important and elusive federal health reform policies under the Patient Protection and Affordable Care Act (ACA) relating to women's reproductive health and contraceptives,” stated Manno. Under the ACA, HHS must determine policies relating to coverage of contraceptives by August. Unlike the recent final rule making procedures by HHS relating to the implementation of the health care exchanges, this important decision -- whether or not to mandate that contraceptives and related services be covered, with or without co-pays, under mandatory preventative care provisions -- is an internal HHS decision that will affect the lives and health of millions of women for decades to come. "The facts speak for themselves," Manno continued, "unintended pregnancies are an expensive and pervasive problem in America, an enormous cause of which is the prohibitive cost and unavailability of contraceptives through current health care channels. Making contraceptives available to women, under the new mandatory federal coverage requirements, will reduce unintended pregnancies, lower costs, and increase patient outcomes.”

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