# @chapelboronews on Instagram

- **Type:** Image
- **Original URL:** https://www.instagram.com/p/C-IaY6oOGJ0
- **Gondola URL:** https://gondola.cc/posts/21831005-chapelboronews-instagram
- **Thumbnail:** https://img.gondola.cc/tr:w-,h-,fo-auto/thumbnails/a6a9c660e8.jpg
- **Posted:** 2024-08-01T14:56:25.000+00:00
- **Account Owner:** Chapelboro.com (@chapelboronews) — https://gondola.cc/chapelboronews

## Caption

The Walgreens pharmacy in the East 54 community in Chapel Hill hosted an atypical visitor on Wednesday morning: North Carolina’s governor.

Gov. Roy Cooper joined several state health officials and Walgreens representatives to make an announcement of a new benefit through North Carolina’s recently expanded Medicaid program. Starting on Thursday, the state will cover the daily birth control Opill — the first over-the-counter oral contraception approved by the U.S. Food and Drug Administration — for its enrollees when gotten through participating pharmacies.

“Family planning is such an important part of public health: being able to decide when you want to have children is an important part of having a thriving family,” Cooper said at the store. “When you think about a lot of people who are working, we want them to continue seeing doctors and having health insurance — now they’re able to do that — but sometimes, it’s difficult to get prescriptions for birth control pills.

“This gives people,” he continued, “the reproductive freedom and family planning options that they need. And we’re grateful, starting [Thursday], to make this part of Medicaid coverage, which overall is going to make families healthier across North Carolina.”

State Health Director and Chief Medical Officer Dr. Elizabeth Cuervo Tilson said more than 330 pharmacies across 92 counties provide contraceptive services to Medicaid enrollees through a program launched in January. With much attention around reproductive rights and women’s healthcare in recent years, she said daily birth control options are critical for people to easily access — especially in the state’s rural areas, where doctors may be sparse.

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#northcarolina #birthcontrol #contraception #roycooper #publichealth

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## Tags

roycooper, northcarolina, contraception, publichealth, birthcontrol

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