Government looks to widen contraceptive coverage for public servants

Treasury Board president Scott Brison has announcedhis department will begin to work out an agreement with public service unions to include all contraceptives under the Public Service Health Care Plan.

• PSACcalling on government to expand coverage of contraceptives

The presidents of the two biggest unionsthe Public Service Alliance of Canada (PSAC) and theProfessional Institute of the Public Service of Canada (PIPSC)were notified Wednesdaynight, according to a Treasury Boardsource.

The current health-care plan only covers oralcontraceptives, so other birth control methods, such as the patch andintrauterine devices, have to be paid out of pocket.

The unions must come to a consensus with the department before a newcontraceptive plan can be approved. If an agreement is reached quickly, the changes could be implemented as early as January.

Reached out to unions

The Treasury Board manages the health plan and is in charge of alterations or amendmentsto it.

On Thursday, Brison announced in the House of Commons that his department had reached out to public sector unions and will be working with them to ensure non-oral contraceptives are also covered under the Public Service Health Care Plan.

The announcement comes days after PSACpresident Robyn Benson toldCBCRadio's Ottawa Morningshe wantedto restart negotiations with the Treasury Board of Canada Secretariat to modernize the union's health-care plan.

"It's 2017 now, so I don't think we should be forcing women to take birth control pills if it's not appropriate for them," she said Monday.