"My company issued an all-employee memo today regarding the change to our prescription contraceptive benefits. It's my happy day! One person CAN make a difference!"

Aurora, Illinois

"I recently started a new job and was shocked when I found that my new insurance didn't cover my birth control pills. My previous employer's insurance did cover me and I never even realized that there were insurance companies that didn't cover birth control. I was quite upset and didn't know where to turn. That very week, I read a story in the newspaper about the woman from Washington who had sued her employer over birth control coverage and won. I went straight to the internet and looked for information. That's how I found your site. I used one of your letters along with a copy of the news story and gave it to my employer. Today I found out that beginning with our new plan year in September, by company's insurance plan will include birth control coverage. You can chalk up another win for the good guys! Thanks "cover my pills.org" you really saved the day!"

from Aberdeen, SD

"Wow, I was going to log on to the website today because I just received a wonderful e-mail from the benefits manager at my school. She told me that the college will be changing their policy to cover contraceptive drugs, and that the new policy would go into effect on July 1, 2001! When I first approached her, she was supportive, but told me that it would probably be a rather involved process and nothing would be likely to happen before July 1, 2002. For about a month and a half I have been preparing myself mentally to address a committee who guides these decisions for the college community. I forced myself to tell lots of people that I was going to do this so that I didn't give myself the opportunity to chicken out. I just crafted a letter that I was planning to mail out to each member of that committee, telling them of my concern and sharing the good news about the Bartell case. The benefits manager also thanked me for sharing with her the news about the court case. I am sure that this important case had a major impact on the decision to cover contraceptives. I could not be more excited about the positive outcome in this case and the ramifications it will undoubtably lead to for other businesses. Thank you so much for all that you do, and congratulations on this important victory for women everywhere!"

from TN

"I was diagnosed with Polycystic Ovary Sydrome when I was a senior in high school. It is a condition in which the body produces abnormally high levels of testosterone and can lead to heart disease, infertility, and diabetes if not regulated. My doctor put me on The Pill to correct this. However, for over a year, my parents had to pay out of pocket for the pills because our insurance did not cover birth control for any reason. Then, their policy changed--it would be covered as long as my doctor sent a letter saying that I was taking birth control pills for reasons other than contraception. I thought that was just stupid. I couldn't be covered for taking a medicine for it's intended use, only the side effects. Luckily, in the last year, Governor Blagojevich signed the bill that all insurance companies in Illinois have to cover birth control, no questions asked. Now we can save money on birth control, no matter what it's used for!"

from Arlington Heights, IL

"I work at a medium sized non-profit company (about 150 employees) many of whom are young, single women. Recently, I changed health insurance and joined my company's plan. I went to fill a prescription for birth control pills and was shocked to learn that they were not covered. I remembered that I had read about legal action regarding this issue and I found your website. I printed out the information on the website and gave it to the associate executive director of the organization. At first she said that I had to understand that health insurance is not available with or without birth control and that if they provided birth control they would have to choose a much more expensive policy. She brought in the CFO who reiterated the complexities of the problem. He also said that insurance never covers birth control, which I pointed out to be untrue. I suggested that before we presume, we should just contact the provider and find out what it would entail. They said they would. I came away with the sense that my concerns were being pooh-poohed. I also contacted the provider who explained that my organization merely had to add a rider to their policy covering birth control. I passed this information on to both individuals to whom I had spoken. A week later, in the hallway, the associate executive director stopped me to say that the birth control issue had moved to the top of the agenda. This week, the human resources committee decided to add the birth control rider to our insurance policy so that all employees' birth control will be covered. Yesterday the CEO stopped me in the hall and thanked me for pointing out this egregious oversight in their personnel policies. I was genuinely and pleasantly surprised to receive such a response. It seems as if no one had brought up the issue before and that our company, once they knew the facts, was more than willing to do the right thing. Yeah for activism!"

from Brooklyn, NY