Health insurers may soon offer contraceptives at no extra cost

The average American woman who wants two children spends roughly five years trying to get pregnant or being pregnant. She spends a much longer time -- 30 years, on average -- trying to avoid pregnancy, often at no small expense.

That may soon change, at least the expense part. Starting this fall, the health-care overhaul will require new health plans to begin providing a range of preventive health services at no cost to patients. Many people, including women's health advocates and some employer groups, think contraception should be one of the required free services.