NEW YORK �� New York state ordered health insurers to cover birth control and abortions even if President Donald Trump signs a repeal of the federal health care law that would lift federal mandates on the industry.
The state will require commercial insurers to provide broad coverage of contraceptive drugs and devices, and cover medically necessary abortions at no cost to patients, said a statement Saturday from the New York Department of Financial Services.
The order to cover birth control largely matches requirements imposed on insurers by the Affordable Care Act. The mandate to cover abortion goes further than the federal law.
"These regulatory actions will help ensure that whatever happens at the federal level, women in our state will have cost-free access to reproductive health care," Gov. Andrew M. Cuomo said in the statement.
Trump campaigned on a promise to dismantle the health law, and Friday he signed an executive order declaring that his administration will seek the "prompt repeal" of the law. The ;aw expanded insurance coverage to about 20 million people; it requires that individuals buy insurance and provides subsidies to help low-income people afford it.
