A federal judge ruled yesterday that Seattle-based Bartell Drug Co. must include contraceptives in its health insurance plan. The judge, by reasoning that failure to provide contraceptive coverage was discriminatory against women, sided with women’s groups that have argued that such coverage is a fundamental health issue. Last year, the U.S. Equal Employment Opportunity Commission advised that, to be in accordance with anti-discrimination laws, contraception coverage should be included along with blood-pressure medicine and anti-impotence drugs.
See "Judge Orders Firm to Cover Birth Control", Sarah Schafer, The Washington Post, June 12, 2001