Dear Ms. Rubinson:

Thank you for your letter supporting the Prevention Through Affordable Access Act. I agree that it is very important for women to have access to affordable contraceptives and I am working hard to see that this bill is enacted into law.

I believe that this legislation is necessary because the Bush Administration has issued new regulations that reduce access to affordable contraceptives. Soon after the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a proposed rule in 2007 that would exclude non-profits, safety net providers and college health centers from receiving contraceptives at a nominal cost, I wrote to the Administrator of CMS expressing my grave concerns that the rule would have a devastating impact on the facilities and the women that they serve. I urged this Administrator to revise this rule to follow the intent of Congress and include safety net providers, but CMS did not do so. Because CMS refused to fix this problem through their rule-making process, I joined my colleagues in introducing the Prevention through Affordable Access Act, S. 2347, which is legislation that would restore safety-net and university clinics’ ability to access low-cost contraceptives. This bill is currently pending in the Senate Finance Committee, of which I am a member, and I am committed to finding a way to pass this legislation as quickly as possible.

Thank you for contacting me about this important issue. Please do not hesitate to contact me again if I can ever be of assistance to you on this or any other matter.



Sincerely,

Charles E. Schumer
United States Senator