ALBANY, N.Y. (AP) — Some New York women receiving Medicaid-paid contraceptives are being told that under a recent state cost-cutting measure they can't get their preferred, brand-name methods unless a generic version "fails first," which could mean bleeding, nausea or pregnancy.

Women's reproductive rights advocates said there is widespread anxiety over the new rule implemented by a team established by Gov. Andrew Cuomo to revamp the state's Medicaid program. The administration says it is working with private health insurers to address the concerns of women who otherwise could not afford birth control.

"We are still getting daily phone calls," said M. Tracey Brooks, CEO of Family Planning Advocates in Albany. "The medical providers are still trying to work it through the (Medicaid) formula… but patients are being asked to wait weeks at a time."

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