A crowd of women in pink Planned Parenthood T-shirts surrounded Washington Gov. Jay Inslee Tuesday morning as he signed a bill to improve access to birth control.
The same law took effect in Oregon last year. It requires insurance companies to cover a 12-month refill of birth control prescriptions instead of making women go to the pharmacy every month.
"This commonsense bill will make it more convenient to refill certain prescriptions and to consistently take doses,” Inslee said.
The measure the governor signed easily passed the Washington Legislature.
When the new state law takes effect next January, any health plan that includes contraceptive coverage must reimburse for a 12-month supply, unless the patient requests a smaller prescription.
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