Was this birth control denial legal?

I am a college student with private health insurance (an HMO plan) from my parents' employer. In the past year, I have always had my birth control and refills fully covered with no cost sharing. But when I renewed my annual prescription this year and tried to pick it up at my usual CVS, my insurance denied coverage. When I called them, they said that they only cover "maintenance medications" at CVS for up to a year, and after a year they require you to fill it at [Specific Pharmacy that's preferred by my plan, which will remain unnamed] or they won't cover it. CVS is in-network with my insurance plan to be clear, they just apparently will only cover "maintenance medications" at [Specific Pharmacy]. There is no [Specific Pharmacy] near me in my college town, and I do not have a car so I cannot drive there. So my birth control just didn't get covered and I paid out of pocket with GoodRx.

Is this denial legal under the ACA? I thought that under the ACA, private insurance companies are required to fully cover birth control medications at in-network pharmacies. CVS is an in-network pharmacy with my plan, so shouldn't my birth control be covered there? While I know that insurance companies can require you to fill maintenance medications at specific pharmacies only, doesn't extending that requirement to birth control potentially conflict with the ACA? Additionally, birth control isn't just "maintenance medication", it's preventive care. So was my insurance company's denial potentially unlawful?

submitted by /u/throwawayname771
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