WASHINGTON, D.C. – Today, U.S. Senators Mark Warner and Tim Kaine, along with 37 of their Senate colleagues, sent a letter to Department of Health and Human Services Secretary Sylvia Mathews Burwell following reports that insurers, in violation of the Affordable Care Act, are failing to cover forms of FDA-approved contraception and neglecting to provide women with accurate information about the range of essential health care services that are now available without cost-sharing.

In the letter, the senators urged Secretary Burwell to help states develop plans of action to ensure that health plans comply with the Affordable Care Act, provide full access to all FDA-approved form of contraception and take appropriate enforcement action when necessary. 

“In the 21^st century, women should have access to affordable, comprehensive healthcare services, like birth control, that empower them to make their own healthcare decisions and provide economic security for their families. By helping women get contraceptive coverage and other essential health benefits without cost-sharing, the Affordable Care Act took a critical step toward this goal,” the senators wrote. “Unfortunately, we write with serious concerns that some insurers are failing to uphold the standards set in the Affordable Care Act and as a result leaving women without the health care services they are entitled to under the law.”

Also signing onto the letter were Senators Patty Murray, Barbara Boxer, Harry Reid, Chuck Schumer, Sherrod Brown, Dianne Feinstein, Mazie Hirono, Dick Durbin, Claire McCaskill, Tammy Baldwin, Barbara Mikulski, Debbie Stabenow, Patrick Leahy, Elizabeth Warren, Richard Blumenthal, Al Franken, Jeanne Shaheen, Kirsten Gillibrand, Ed Markey, Chris Coons, Michael Bennet, Amy Klobuchar, Bernie Sanders, Maria Cantwell, Sheldon Whitehouse, Martin Heinrich, Ben Cardin, Bob Menendez, Cory Booker, Gary Peters, Jeff Merkley, Ron Wyden, Chris Murphy, Tom Udall, Brian Schatz, Jack Reed, and Jon Tester.