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A MEMORIAL
REQUESTING THAT THE NEW MEXICO HEALTH POLICY COMMISSION, IN
COOPERATION WITH THE INSURANCE DIVISION OF THE PUBLIC
REGULATION COMMISSION, CONTINUE TO EVALUATE THE BENEFITS OF
CONTRACEPTION USE, FURTHER THE USE OF THE NEW MEXICO
CONTRACEPTIVE COVERAGE WEB SITE AND DISSEMINATE INSURANCE
COVERAGE INFORMATION ABOUT THE COMPLIANCE OF THE INSURANCE
INDUSTRY REGARDING COVERAGE OF PRESCRIPTION CONTRACEPTIVES.
WHEREAS, Sections 59A-22-42 and 59A-46-44 NMSA 1978
require health insurance providers that offer a prescription
drug benefit to also offer coverage for prescription
contraceptives; and
WHEREAS, the requirement to offer coverage for
prescription contraceptives took effect on June 15, 2001; and
WHEREAS, in 2001 and 2006, the legislature requested
that studies be conducted to ascertain the level of knowledge
of and compliance with the requirement to offer coverage for
prescription contraceptives; and
WHEREAS, in 2006, House Memorial 38 requested the
insurance division of the public regulation commission and the
New Mexico health policy commission to disseminate information
about the compliance of the insurance industry with state law
and started the New Mexico contraceptive coverage web site
found on the internet at http://hpc.state.nm.us/contraception/
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contraception.htm to provide information to the public; and
WHEREAS, many women fail to discover before obtaining
health insurance coverage whether the prescription
contraceptives that best fit their lifestyles are covered by
their insurance plans; and
WHEREAS, coverage of prescription contraceptives can
reduce the costs to health insurance carriers by providing
savings on health care costs due to reducing the expenses
associated with unintended pregnancies and by promoting better
health for mothers and their children; and
WHEREAS, many women still lack coverage for prescription
contraceptives, even though private insurance plans have
improved coverage in recent years, and many women still cannot
obtain the kind of contraception they prefer and that best
fits their lifestyles because of limitations in their health
insurance plans; and
WHEREAS, there remains more information to be gathered
and disseminated, and it is necessary to keep the information
gathered current;
NOW, THEREFORE, BE IT RESOLVED BY THE HOUSE OF
REPRESENTATIVES OF THE STATE OF NEW MEXICO that the New Mexico
health policy commission be requested to work with the
insurance division of the public regulation commission to
continue their cooperative efforts to gather and assess
information regarding the compliance of the insurance industry
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with New Mexico laws requiring prescription contraception
coverage and to disseminate the information gathered by their
cooperative effort by means of the New Mexico contraceptive
coverage web site, among other methods of public outreach, and
provide an evaluation of the compliance of the health insurers
in the state; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the insurance division of
the public regulation commission and the New Mexico health
policy commission continue their cooperative efforts to assess
public awareness of the availability of prescription
contraceptive coverage by health insurance providers and to
develop and evaluate public information campaigns to raise the
level of public awareness of insurance coverage of
prescription contraceptives, including expansion and updating
of the New Mexico contraceptive coverage web site; and
BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that copies of this memorial be
transmitted to the New Mexico health policy commission and the
insurance division of the public regulation commission.