PROPOSED DEFENSE BILL COULD MAKE FREE BIRTH CONTROL AVAILABLE FOR MILITARY FAMILIES

The timing of starting a family is complex for anyone; however, within the military community, there are often additional factors at play. This is why it’s important to have some sort of control over the matter and now, military families will have even more options in doing so. Free birth control would be provided by TRICARE through the 2025 National Defense Authorization Act (NDAA). This is the first time in over ten years that this has happened.

NDAA Finally Allows TRICARE to Provide Free Birth Control

It’s taken over a decade but TRICARE is finally getting rid of copays for contraception. Military families enrolled in qualifying coverage will have free birth control thanks to the 2025 NDAA.

This is similar to what is offered by the Affordable Care Act (Obamacare), which also ended copays through private insurance plans for birth control.

In recent years, many lawmakers, primarily Democrats, have been fighting to have these copays eliminated.

However, there has been pushback from many Republican lawmakers concerned about the cost of doing so along with some misunderstandings surrounding emergency birth control.

This bipartisan effort is helping service members eliminate a barrier to their healthcare that includes reproductive rights but extends into other aspects of personal care.

Keep in mind that while the 2025 NDAA has passed the House of Representatives, as of this writing, it still needs to pass the Senate and then be signed by the President before becoming law.

However, the compromises found within the bill have lawmakers on both sides of the aisle hopeful that the NDAA in 2025 will become law.

In doing so, providing free birth control through TRICARE would level the playing field by providing service members with the same access as civilians with private insurance plans.

Millions of Service Members Impacted

TRICARE has over 4 million beneficiaries who are female troops, dependents, and retirees and of this group, there are around 1.6 million of reproductive age.

This is why eliminating copays for contraceptives is so important as many service members have reported barriers to getting the type of birth control they desired when using the military health system.

While birth control is free at military pharmacies like other prescriptions, how people receive their medication is diverse these days.

This means that military dependents and retirees who use retail stores or receive their prescriptions through the mail could face copays ranging between $13 and $43, depending on the brand and source.

Since July 2022, TRICARE has waived copays for some contraceptives like IUDs but since Congress needed to approve waiving copays for prescription pills, the deal hadn’t gone through.

House lawmakers have repeatedly proposed NDAA amendments to eliminate these copays, but they were removed when the bill went to the Senate.

The difference in the 2025 legislation is the fact that the amendment in place should appease GOP opposition.

Why Free Birth Control Through TRICARE Matters

Overall, around 65% of females between the ages of 14 and 49 use contraceptives in one form or another—methods vary and depend on personal preference, health choices, etc.

However, experts have shown that the cost of providing contraceptives without copays is a positive thing on several fronts, including personal choice, the cost of caring for children in low-income families, and additional healthcare costs.

Free birth control through TRICARE has a direct impact on the lives and future of warfighters, their families, and military healthcare. Providing more access is a better policy that helps service members and improves society as a whole.

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