The Human Services Department said that people in New Mexico who are on Medicaid can now get a new birth control pill, pregnancy tests, and emergency birth control for free.
The first oral contraceptive that can be bought without a prescription in the U.S. went on sale across the country earlier this month. It was approved by the FDA last year for use without a prescription.
Now, people in New Mexico who have Medicaid will be able to get the product, which is called Opill. Together with the state Department of Health, the HSD has given pharmacies standing orders to make sure that people can get the new pill when they need it and for free.
For the New Mexico Medicaid program, Alanna Dancis is the Chief Medical Officer. She said that people should take the new pill to the drugstore counter instead of going straight to the cashier like they do with other medicines.
The number of abortions done in New Mexico has more than tripled since the Supreme Court took away the federal right to an abortion. This is because other states have made it harder to get an abortion. Dancis said that it’s not just abortion that matters.
“The direction has certainly been for us to be trying to expand reproductive access as much as possible, including better access to contraception,” she added.
Dancis also says that Medicaid recipients can now get free pregnancy tests and emergency birth control without a prescription. They can do this by going to the drugstore counter and asking for the items.