For women getting birth control on campus, the price for safe sex just got higher. A new federal law that took effect at the beginning of the year means university health centers and other health service providers for low-income populations no longer benefit from the enormous discounts on birth control that pharmaceutical companies used to offer, according to cbsnews.com.
It is specifically a change in a Medicaid rebate law, and is used as a way to decrease the federal budget deficit by cutting certain government health benefits, according to the Milwaukee Journal Sentinel Web site.
Many of the birth control brands the Student Health Services (SHS) pharmacy carries increased in price because the pharmacy lost the contract price from their suppliers, according to SHS pharmacy technician Douglas Anaya. They often switch to generics, Anaya said, because birth control in general is expensive.
Almost half the types and brands of birth control that the on-campus pharmacy carries are generic. The average price of 28-tablet pill pack is $14.34 on campus – a little more than a third of the average base price of the same or similar brands at any other pharmacy.
Most of the time, insurance co-payments cause few customers to pay the base price for birth control or other prescription drugs at pharmacies. Many pharmacies carry mostly generics because hardly anyone pays for the name brand, even with insurance, said part-time SHS pharmacist Hazel Hoskiho. Sometimes, students under family health insurance with low co-pays will pay less than they would at SHS.
The SHS pharmacy buys birth control from two suppliers: Berger, a wholesaler, and Organon. No other companies manufacture the brands of birth control the pharmacy offers at comparable prices, according to Anaya, so there is no price competition.
Family Pact is available for men and women with low-income and provides free family planning services and birth control. At other clinics like Planned Parenthood, Family Pact may also cover abortions and appointments to check for and treat STDs.
Eligibility does not necessarily apply to just low-income students, Anaya said. There are loopholes regarding privacy clauses for students who think they would not qualify based on income.
While some may fear that women will try other methods or stop using birth control altogether because of the prices, according to Anaya, there will most likely not be a major rise in unsafe sex.
“They need it, so they are going to get it anyway,” Anaya said.
Hoskiho and Anaya guessed virtually all the patients they see are women and 70 percent of them pick up birth control.
