On Dec. 1, Pennsylvania will become the latest state to fully reimburse hospitals for providing long-acting forms of birth control to Medicaid patients immediately after they give birth.
The change, announced Monday by Gov. Wolf's administration, is expected to increase the use of long-acting methods such as the intrauterine device (IUD) by low-income women on Medicaid, thus reducing the costs of unintended pregnancy.
"This policy change should help to increase usage by 6 percent and help to prevent unintended pregnancies — saving millions of dollars," Department of Human Services Secretary Ted Dallas said in a news release, citing administration estimates.
