Washington, DC – The National Health Law Program and RHITES are proud to release a new map entitled “State Policies Impacting TMAB Access for Medicaid Enrollees,” resulting from extensive research and analyses done by the legal and policy experts at both organizations. We trust this map will serve as a resource for partners who seek to understand the policies that shape Medicaid coverage of medication abortion care via telehealth services. Telehealth service delivery, when implemented equitably, can combat access and resource barriers facing abortion seekers in the post-Dobbs landscape – and comprehensive insurance coverage of all telehealth modalities is one of the most important factors in facilitating equitable access.
View Map
The map currently focuses on the 18 states that currently use their own funding to cover abortions for Medicaid enrollees and an additional 4 states that have ongoing litigation or ballot initiatives that would establish coverage if successful. Please note that this analysis was conducted at a particular point in time, and given the rapidly changing policy landscape, some of these policies may have changed at the time of reading. This map is evergreen and we will continue to build upon this data by adding new categories and subcategories that impact TMAB coverage at a state level in the upcoming months. We hope that this map will highlight that, even within a highly constrained policy environment, there are still practical and ongoing opportunities to expand coverage to TMAB care that will ultimately improve access to telehealth for medication abortion.
Questions? Please contact Cat Duffy ([email protected]) or Natalie Birnbaum ([email protected])
Key Highlights Include:
- States that Use Their Own Funding for Abortion Coverage: 18 States (Alaska, California, Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington)
- Synchronous Audio-Video TMAB Coverage: 18 states (Alaska, California Connecticut, Delaware, Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, New Jersey, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington)
- Synchronous Audio-Only TMAB Coverage: 15 States (Alaska, California, Delaware, Illinois, Maine, Maryland, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, New Mexico, New York, Oregon, Rhode Island, Vermont, and Washington)
- Asynchronous Store-and-Forward TMAB Coverage: 10 States (Hawaii, Illinois, Maine, Massachusetts, Minnesota, Montana, New Jersey, Oregon, Rhode Island, and Washington)
- States with Ongoing Litigation or Ballot Initiatives That Would Establish Abortion Coverage: 4 states (Colorado, Michigan, Nevada, Pennsylvania)
- Synchronous Audio-Only Telehealth Coverage: 3 states (Colorado, Nevada, Pennsylvania)
- Asynchronous Store-and-Forward Telehealth Coverage: 2 states (Michigan, Nevada)
- States where Abortion Coverage for Medicaid Enrollees is Restricted: 32 states and the District of Columbia. (Alabama, Arizona, Arkansas, Colorado*, Florida, Georgia, Idaho, Indiana, Iowa, Kansas, Kentucky, Louisiana, Michigan*, Mississippi, Missouri, Nebraska, Nevada*, New Hampshire, North Carolina, North Dakota, Ohio, Oklahoma, Pennsylvania*, South Carolina, South Dakota, Tennessee, Texas, Utah, Virginia, West Virginia, Wisconsin, Wyoming)
