A battle over birth "control": legal and legislative employer prescription contraception benefit mandates.

Abstract

Under the Pregnancy Discrimination Act (PDA), employers are prohibited from discriminating against women by treating pregnancy and childbirth different from other medical conditions. Employers who offer medical benefits to their employees have thus been required to cover pregnancy-related medical costs on the same terms as other medical coverage. The cost of prescription contraception, however, has generally not been covered by employer-sponsored medical plans, even while other prescription drugs were. This Note examines the recent case of Erickson v. Bartell Drug Co., which challenged this practice of excluding prescription contraception coverage as discriminatory under the PDA, and argues that further federal legislation is necessary to ensure the equal treatment of women in the workplace.