On-campus birth control costs continue to soar (may increase health risks for college women)

[Kadie]

Issue date: 8/30/07 Section: News

Summer Recap: On-campus birth control costs continue to soar
Higher prices for oral contraceptives may increase health risks for college women
Alissa Eisenberg

One daily routine for many college women recently became much more expensive.

Many drug companies are no longer offering universities discounts on birth control because of government legislation.

The Deficit Reduction Act, signed by President Bush last year, limits the types of organizations that can receive medical discounts and diminishes the incentives for drug companies to provide discounts for university students.

snip...
These changes are also raising serious concern among various health care professionals.

"This is an idiotic, moronic rule that really is forcing a lot of young women to switch for no good medical reason," said Lee Schulman, chairman of the Association of Reproductive Health Professionals, a Washington D.C.-based organization that provides information about reproductive and sexual health.

Schulman added that "when people are forced to switch birth control not for medical reasons, there is increased likelihood of a variety of side effects, such as breast tenderness and increased unscheduled bleeding."

more...
http://media.www.dailypennsylvanian.com/media/storage/paper882/news/2007/08/30/News/Summer.Recap.OnCampus.Birth.Control.Costs.Continue.To.Soar-2942619.shtml

[Mutineer]

1. So can't these college students go to free health clinics

elsewhere? Not something I need or anything but do health departments and the like still give out reduced cost birth control pills?

[uppityperson]

2. Not as much as they used to.

Clinic I worked in used to get a whole bunch of free samples which could be given out for free. They don't so much any more.

[bliss_eternal]

12. Isn't that a shame?

I recall those days. Our college clinic used to get the freebies, too. If the NP wanted someone to change to a different type of pill, she just gave the young woman a sample to try for a month or two, to ensure she tolerated it well.

[uppityperson]

13. Very much so. I remember having boxes of packets.

Yes, someone somewhere paid because there is no free packet of pills, but it was nice to be able to have people be able to try them and nice to be able to hand out a packet so they could start them now, without having to go to a pharmacy where perhaps someone might see you or know you.

[bliss_eternal]

15. The privacy aspect is huge for young women.

Some are just exploring their sexuality, some have been active since highschool. But either way, they don't necessarily want to risk being spotted picking up a script where it may get back to mom and dad.

The college health clinic is ideal because it's on campus. Ours had it's own pharmacy, too. So it was one-stop shopping, so to speak. :P

[Yupster]

3. How much do birth control pills cost anyway?

Condoms cost about 50 cents a piece and you can get them at any grocery store.

[peacebird]

10. I was put on BCP for a couple months two years ago as a "chemical flush" for menopause

WITH insurance that covered prescriptions it cost me $45 a month. As a college kid that would have been WAY too expensive. The $10 a month in college was pricey for me (in the 1970's)

Are the Repubs TRULY concerned about preventing abortion, or just about controlling the sexual activity of young women?

[JerseygirlCT]

14. I think it's the second, for sure. nt

[bliss_eternal]

11. They're a pharmaceutical, and as such aren't cheap.

In the late 90's, I seem to recall paying about $160. for a six month supply. This was getting them directly from my Nurse Practitioner on a sliding scale basis. So, they cost more than I actually paid for them. I would imagine they are much more now.

The college years are tough. Some young women are still carried on their parent's insurance. Others are not, because they are 18 years of age and considered adults (technically) by insurers. Some parents won't continue to pay for insuring their children when they reach the age of 18. This was the case for many young women I attended college with.

For those that are covered by parent's insurance, they may not want their parents to know they are sexually active. So they may need and seek options of obtaining birth control so their parents aren't "billed" and find out.

[Nikia]

21. I can get them at my local pharmacy for $28

Which I've been told has always had the least expensive drugs.
I don't know if Walmart (or other stores offering cheap generics) includes any birth control pills in its program.

[Piltdown13]

22. I don't know about WalMart,

but Target does have some generic birth control pills. They're not, of course, the $4 generics that get advertised, but I end up paying $15/month for pills that would probably be at least $30/month for the brand name version.

The Target price isn't that high, but I did have a bit of sticker shock, having just spent my grad school career paying $8-$10 a month for the non-generic version -- apparently, my brand wasn't one of the ones that Big Pharma was playing pricing games with at the time.

[Kadie]

4. more from the article...

snip...

Though Penn's Office of Health Education offers free condoms to students, other forms of birth control, like Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo, are no longer available on campus at all.

College senior Jessica Haralson has expressed concerns about the issue on her blog, particularly about the availability of oral contraceptives and the high-failure rate of condoms, which many turn to if they can't afford a pill.

"College women should have the option to take oral contraceptives without putting themselves in financial jeopardy," Haralson wrote in an e-mail.

She noted that "some Penn students in financial need are considering visiting Planned Parenthood, which offers a sliding scale for oral contraceptives."

[bliss_eternal]

6. Not all communities ...

...with a college/university have a "free health clinic." Free health clinics (at least in my city) are usually close to urban, lower income areas.

The other option for young undergrads is to visit a family planning clinic (Planned Parenthood, Family Planning Associates, etc.). But with the war on women's reproductive healthcare, many clinics in smaller areas have been forced to close down. The ones that remain open are constantly threatened by anti-choice protesters. A young woman may not feel safe going to a place where she will face such antagonism (and threats of violence), to get her birth control.

The harassers don't discriminate--they assume EVERYONE is there for an abortion. As such, they are openly hostile to all that approach the clinic. I would understand a young woman being afraid, and not wanting to deal with that. :(

[RayOfHope]

8. Not in Missouri they can't.

[jody]

5. Given the risk of sexually transmitted diseases, why do unmarried women rely on oral contraceptives?

[bliss_eternal]

7. Why do you assume that?

We can't make assumptions when such facts aren't in evidence here. Who's to say that is the ONLY form of birth control they use?

Some young women use birth control pills to prevent pregnancy, but also use female condoms (or ask the young man to use a comdom) to prevent STD's. Or at least this was the case w/some young women seen during my clinic days. If a woman is in a monogamous relationship with a man, and they've both been tested for std's--perhaps she would opt to use ONLY birth control pills. :shrug:

It's individual, and probably as many options (and reasons)as there are people.

[mentalsolstice]

16. You can take BC pills for other reasons, & still pay out of pocket

In 1982-83, when I started out taking BC pills in college (actually, the first time I took them was at 14 y.o., to regulate my periods), they were $9-10 per pack. Fast forward to the mid-90s. I had fibroid tumors and was bleeding like a stuck pig. The pill was the standard form of treatment, yet my insurance (BCBS) would not pay for it. At that time a monthly pack cost $35-40. Thankfully, my ob/gyn would give me 3 months of samples free, as she didn't want me paying for something that didn't work. We did this for 1.5 years, before we went for a hysterectomy, in 1996, which BCBS happily paid for.

on edit: My point is, BC usually isn't covered for any reason, and of course, women suffer...

[bliss_eternal]

20. Insurance companies are so odd.

I recall when my husband and I had to pick insurance during the enrollment period at his workplace. There were different tiers or levels of insurance you could get.

Imagine our surprise that on one of the tiers(a lower one), they would cover an abortion--but not birth control pills. :crazy: This was in the late 90's. We were stunned that they would COVER abortion, but not the ways for women to prevent pregnancy. All the other tiers covered birth control (with a co-pay of course), AND abortion.

Your point is taken. You're right, women ARE suffering.
Sorry to hear of your hysterectomy. Hope things are better for you now. :hug:

[jody]

17. My question was based on ignorance and I sought intelligent answers. Thanks, n/t

[bliss_eternal]

18. No problem.

:)

Hope that was helpful.

[RayOfHope]

9. Who says they are? n/t

[jody]

19. Are you saying they don't? If so what is the basis of your opinion. n/t

[blogslut]

23. And on an ironic note

The cost of infant formula has tripled in the last 20 years.