http://media.www.thetraveleronline.com/media/storage/paper688/news/2007/08/31/News/Birth.Control.Prices.Increase-2945455.shtmlFor years, college health care centers in the U.S. have been able to sell prescription oral contraceptives to students at a discounted rate.
That ended when college pharmacies across the country were notified in Dec. 2006 that prescription birth control would no longer be offered to university health centers at a lower price, said Mary Alice Serafini, assistant vice chancellor for student affairs and director of the Pat Walker Health Center.
In Feb. 2006, President George W. Bush signed into law the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, designed by Congress to curb federal spending. To slow spending growth in Medicare and Medicaid programs, the DRA limited the nominal price exemptions that had allowed for discounted contraceptive prices for college health centers.
Since 1990, a congressional Medicaid rebate bill allowed college health centers to purchase prescription contraceptives at a discounted price from pharmaceutical manufacturers. The savings were then passed on to students.
"Some prices went from $15 to $50," she said.