Iowa insurance companies which provide prescription drug coverage would beforced to pay for “the pill,” too, under a bill which won approval in an Iowa Senate Committee. Senator Jo Ann Johnson, a republican from Adel, saysoral contraceptives and I-U-D’s, diaphrams or the norplant implant wouldhave to be covered if the bill becomes law.Johnson says the move would help provide equity for women, as they now spend about 68-percent more on health care than men.Johnson says some doctors prescribe “the pill” for acne and other reasons –and insurance companies pay for it in those instances.The bill passed the Senate Commerce Committee on an eight to six vote. Opponents contend contraceptives are not “medically necessary” and insurersshould not be forced to cover the pill and other contraceptives.