Audit finds thousands of Vermonters wrongly charged for contraceptive care
WCAX
Thousands of Vermonters will receive reimbursement checks after a state investigation found they were wrongly charged out of pocket by their insurance companies for contraceptive care.
The Vermont Department of Financial Regulation says a nearly two-year audit found policyholders of Blue Cross Blue Shield of Vermont, MVP Health Care and Cigna Healthcare were incorrectly covered for contraceptive services, and the insurers wrongly shifted more than $1.5 million for contraceptive care to consumers.
The state says nearly 9,000 Vermonters paid out of pocket for services like vasectomies, ultrasounds and birth control pills when they shouldn’t have under the Affordable Care Act.
State officials say they found the majority of consumers affected were women, making it an issue of social justice as well as public health.