The civic record
Read. Follow. Verify.Kentucky House Bill 550 establishes statutory rights to contraception, mandates health plan coverage, and authorizes pharmacists to dispense hormonal contraceptives
Last action · February 10, 2026: to Banking & Insurance (H)Sponsor: Sarah Stalker
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What This Bill Proposed
Kentucky HB 550 establishes a statutory right for individuals to obtain contraceptives and for health care providers to supply them, while prohibiting local or state governments from enforcing conflicting restrictions. The measure requires health benefit plans, state employee plans, and Medicaid to cover all FDA-approved contraceptives, voluntary sterilization, and related services without cost-sharing. Additionally, it authorizes trained pharmacists to provide hormonal contraceptives under s and requires the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to seek federal approval for a low-income family planning program.
Residents gain explicit legal protections to access contraceptives and pharmacists can dispense hormonal options without a doctor's appointment, while commercial health insurance plans, state employee plans, and Medicaid must cover contraceptive services without deductibles or copayments starting January 1, 2027.
- Kentucky HB 550 addresses reproductive health services by establishing statutory access rights, insurance coverage mandates, and pharmacist dispensing protocols. context
Who It Would Have Affected
Groups the bill's text would have affected, as described in the record. Being affected is not a position for or against it.
Patients and Consumers
Individuals gain a statutory right to obtain contraceptives without cost-sharing in health plans and can acquire hormonal contraceptives directly from pharmacists without appointments.
Health Care Providers and Pharmacists
Providers gain corresponding rights to offer contraceptive services and information, and pharmacists are authorized to provide hormonal contraceptives under collaborative care agreements with civil and disciplinary immunity.
Health Benefit Plan Issurers
Insurers must provide coverage for all FDA-approved contraceptive drugs, devices, and related services without cost-sharing and comply with 12-month supply and cost defrayal rules.
Religious Employers
Nonprofit religious employers meeting federal criteria may request health benefit plans that exclude contraceptive coverage contrary to their religious tenets upon providing written notice to enrollees.
Key Facts
- Establishes a statutory right for individuals to obtain contraceptives and engage in contraception, and for health care providers to supply contraceptives, referrals, and information.
- Prohibits the Commonwealth, localities, and government officials from enforcing laws, regulations, or requirements that conflict with contraceptive access rights or single out contraceptive providers.
- Authorizes the Attorney General and adversely affected individuals, patients, or health care providers to file civil actions in Circuit Court against violators, with prevailing plaintiffs entitled to litigation costs and reasonable attorney fees.
- Requires health benefit plans, including student health plans, to provide coverage for all FDA-approved contraceptive drugs, devices, products, voluntary sterilization, patient education, and follow-up services without imposing deductibles, coinsurance, or copayments.
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- Permits religious employers to request health benefit plans without contraceptive coverage if contrary to their religious tenets, provided they give written notice to prospective enrollees.
- Mandates that health benefit plans cover a 12-month supply of contraceptives dispensed at once or over time and prohibits requiring a prescription for over-the-counter contraceptives.
- Amends state postsecondary education institution health plans, Medicaid, KCHIP, and state employee group health plans to incorporate the new contraceptive coverage requirements.
- Requires the Cabinet for Health and Family Services to apply for a federal waiver or state plan amendment within 90 days to offer a family planning program for low-income individuals with a 90% federal match rate.
- Authorizes pharmacists acting in good faith to provide hormonal contraceptives according to a collaborative care agreement and standardized procedures developed with the Kentucky Board of Medical Licensure.
- Prohibits pharmacists from requiring patients to schedule an appointment for hormonal contraceptive provision and grants pharmacists and prescribers immunity from civil liability and disciplinary actions when acting in good faith.
Frequently Asked Questions
Can health insurance plans charge copayments or deductibles for contraceptives under this bill?
Do patients need a doctor's prescription to obtain hormonal contraceptives from a pharmacist?
Are religious employers required to provide contraceptive coverage in their health plans?
What else do you want to know?
News Coverage
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Votes, people, money & the original sourceWhere This Stands
This bill did not become law - Died at adjournment · in House committee.
Procedural history
2 actions- Feb 10, 2026HouseCommitteeto Banking & Insurance (H)
- Feb 3, 2026HouseIntroducedintroduced in House to Committee on Committees (H)
Version history
Only one version on file - nothing to compare yet. As later stages (committee substitute, engrossed, enrolled) are captured, the redline appears here.
View official text →Lobbying Activity
No state lobbying filings in our records match this bill. Federal lobbying reports (LDA) cover Congress, so they are not listed on state bills.
Full breakdown
Who this bill affects and the strongest case for and against it, written only from the bill’s own text.
Sponsors
Discoveries
Patterns POLISCOPE noticed across the record. These are observations to investigate, not conclusions.
Comprehensive Insurance Mandate and Pharmacist Dispensing Authority
The measure combines broad civil rights protections for contraception with sweeping insurance mandates across multiple chapters of the Kentucky Revised Statutes and grants direct dispensing authority to pharmacists.
Connected Entities
Sources
apps.legislature.ky.gov
Analysis Score
0–100- Significance20Lowered because this bill did not pass (its text scored 85)
- Controversy80Intensity of disagreement among stakeholders
- Entertainment10Compellingness for a non-policy-wonk reader
- Buzz75Current news / social attention level
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