The Biden administration has proposed a new rule to expand access to birth control under the Affordable Care Act, in today's bite-sized hospital and health industry news from the District of Columbia, Maryland, and Minnesota.

• District of Columbia: The Biden administration on Monday proposed a new rule that aims to expand access to birth control under the Affordable Care Act. In 2018, the Trump administration issued a rule that allowed organizations to opt out of covering birth control under moral grounds, not just religious ones. Under the new rule, the moral exemption for birth control coverage would be removed, while the religious one is retained. In addition, the rule would create an "independent pathway" for individuals whose insurers have religious exemptions so that they can still access birth control at no cost through a "willing contraceptive provider", according to HHS. "If this rule is finalized, individuals who have health plans that would otherwise be subject to the ACA preventive services requirements but have not covered contraceptive services because of a moral or religious objection, would now have access," said CMS Administrator Chiquila Brooks-LaSure. If the proposed rule is finalized, HHS estimates that it could affect over 100 employers and 125,000 employees. Currently, the public has 60 days to comment on the rule. (Gonzalez, Axios, 1/30; Firth, MedPage Today, 1/30)

• Maryland: FDA on Friday announced new draft regulations that ease restrictions on blood donations from gay and bisexual men. During the AIDS epidemic in the 1980s, gay and bisexual men were restricted from donating blood over concerns about the spread of HIV. In 2015, the total ban was lifted and replaced with a one-year abstinence requirement. In 2020, this requirement was shortened to three months amid concerns of blood shortages during the pandemic. Under the new regulations, the three-month abstinence requirement would be removed, and all potential donors, not just gay and bisexual men, would be screened to evaluate their risk of HIV based on their sexual behavior, recent partners, and other factors. If an individual has not had any new sexual partners or multiple partners in the last three months would be allowed to donate. However, individuals who have had new or multiple partners and have had anal intercourse would be asked to wait three months before donating. According to the Washington Post, this change would allow gay and bisexual men in monogamous relationships with other men to donate blood for the first time since 1985. "Donating blood is one of several really important symbolic methods of demonstrating one’s caring for other people," said FDA Commissioner Robert Califf. "We want to make that available to everyone possible in the context of a safe blood supply." (McGinley et al., Washington Post, 1/27; AP/Modern Healthcare, 1/27)

• Minnesota: The Minnesota Senate on Saturday voted 34-33 to pass a measure guaranteeing the right to an abortion and other reproductive healthcare in the state. The proposal, known as the Protect Reproduction Options or PRO Act, would ensure access to abortion, birth control, family planning, and sterilization. "We have a duty to answer the call of Minnesotans to truly protect those reproductive freedoms, to enshrine them not simply in case law, but in our statutory law," said state Sen. Jennifer McEwen (D), who authored the bill. "These are our values, this is the practice in Minnesota. This is what we believe." The bill has now moved to the desk of Gov. Tim Walz (D), and he is expected to sign it into law soon. According to MPR News, the law will make Minnesota the 16th state to explicitly protect the right to an abortion under state law or under a state's constitution. (Ferguson, MPR News, 1/28)