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Once a month, I walk up to the pharmacy, pick up my prescription, and the woman behind the counter inquires warningly if I realize that my generic birth control pills cost $50. I tell her yes, pay my “don’t want to have a baby” money, and try not to gouge holes in the countertop with my fingers. Every single month. That’s just the way it goes, for me and plenty of other women out there… but maybe not for long.

Birth control is one of many things on a list up for consideration to be included as required free preventative care on overhauled healthcare plans. If BC makes the cut, it could eliminate the extra costs to prevent pregnancy for women all over the country – but should it be included? Read More »

When someone wrote into College Candy asking us to investigate the raising prices of birth control on and near college campuses across America, I was moderately shocked.

I have always had health insurance and never really thought about what the birth control options were without it. That made my birth control a whole $8 a month or so. But that’s neither here nor there. I don’t have health insurance anymore and neither do many college girls in need of birth control.

The laws have changed since the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, which alters how drug makers are permitted to calculate rebates related to Medicaid. Somehow or another, this act twisted itself around to make it expensive for companies to offer schools discounts on birth control. Lame. So instead of paying $3-$10 a pack, thanks to discounts, college students are now being forced to pay $30-$50 a pack instead. Even for the cases when insurance would cover the difference, what about the girls who don’t want to involve their parents’ insurance with their birth control?

A female college student should be able to obtain reasonably priced birth control in this country without the assistance of health insurance. Read More »