Idahoans can now get six months of birth control under new law

Idaho Capital Sun

More Idahoans can now receive up to a half year of prescription birth control medication at a time.

That’s thanks to a new law the Idaho Legislature narrowly passed in 2024. 

The law — passed through Senate Bill 1234 — requires insurance companies to cover six months of prescription contraception coverage for health plans starting Jan. 1. 

In debate, bill sponsor Idaho Senate Minority Leader Melissa Wintrow, D-Boise, said the new law would make it easier for women who can only access a one- or three-month supply of birth control through insurance.

“This policy represents a significant step forward in supporting Idahoans’ health, economic stability and autonomy at a time our draconian, conflicting reproductive rights laws have led to pregnant women being airlifted to Utah and more than 22% of our OBGYNs fleeing the state,” Wintrow wrote in a column published Thursday in the Idaho Statesman.

One-third of female contraceptive users missed taking their birth control because they couldn’t get their next supply in time, according to a 2022 survey by KFF, a health policy research group formerly known as the Kaiser Family Foundation.