EverThrive Illinois

For more than 30 years, EverThrive Illinois has been advancing the health and safety of Illinoisans by supporting access to quality health care and providing resources to achieve health equity.

NIRH has partnered with EverThrive for many years to improve access to contraception in Illinois.

In 2015, NIRH partnered with EverThrive and the University of Chicago Section of Family Planning and Contraception Research to research if Illinois’ health care exchange was compliant with the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptive coverage mandate. They conducred original research to evaluate the compliance of qualified health plans on the Illinois Health Insurance Marketplace, assessed insurance coverage of abortion statewide, and reviewed explanation-of-benefit (EOB) confidentiality procedures in Medicaid managed care and private plans.

Their resulting report received statewide media coverage and formed the basis of a presentation on federal requirements for contraceptive coverage for nearly 100 insurance representatives. These organizations also advocated successfully for the passage of Illinois House Bill 2812, which protects confidential communications in Medicaid Managed Care plans.

In 2017, EverThrive IL worked to ensure the success of the recently passed Illinois Contraceptive Coverage Act, by engaging with the Illinois Department of Insurance and private health insurance carriers to monitor compliance with the law, educated pharmacies and providers, and raised public awareness of the right to contraception under this policy. They developed a campaign to empower women who have been inappropriately denied care, or faced unnecessary delays, to file complaints with state agencies. EverThrive IL also addressed abortion coverage in the state with support from NIRH.

In 2019, we worked with EverThrive to improve access to contraception in school-based health centers (SBHCs). Illinois’ SBHCs vary widely in their ability to provide the full range of contraception options to their patients. NIRH partnered with EverThrive to close this gap in by developing a toolkit that documents how SBHCs can overcome administrative and non-clinical barriers to providing the full range of contraceptive methods, including LARC.