Of the many open-to-interpretation objectives of thePatient Protection and Affordable CareAct (ACA), the family planning services that arepart of “mandatory” benefits have been among the most difficult topin down. That’s largely because individual states have some leewayin deciding which services should be included as mandatory. At thesame time, the several tiers of Medicaid have added to theconfusion about what is covered and what isn’t.

To find out what the family services inclusion trend has beenamong the states, the Kaiser Family Foundation asked the 50 statesand the District of Columbia to share their policies on familyplanning service inclusion. Not everyone responded; but Kaiser didgather data from 41 of the 51 entities.

The survey found that, in general, there was“wide coverage” of basic family planning products and services,particularly “most prescription contraceptives.” However, when askedabout emergency contraceptives and other less traditional familyplanning services, coverage was far more variable. And servicesthat address spousal abuse were apparently not considered to beessential in some states.