Healthcare reform could make birth control more affordable
November 11, 2010
<p style=
“margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.4px; font: 10.5px Times;”>
As the Institute of Medicine reports that the average woman spends
around 30 years of her life using birth control, the new health
reform law could make pregnancy prevention easier—and more
affordable—for millions of women across the United States as early
as next year.
<p style=
“margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.4px; font: 10.5px Times;”>
The controversial issue, which has sparked heated debates among
feminist groups, religious organizations and conservatives, will go
before a panel of experts next week, where they will determine
whether birth control and other services like pelvic exams and
mammograms are deemed “preventive care” and if they should be
covered by health care plans in the future.
<p style=
“margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.4px; font: 10.5px Times;”>
For Emily Kelley, part-time coordinator with the UNA Women’s
Center, the advantage of offering free birth control such as pills,
intrauterine devices (IUD), patches and vaginal rings to women of
all social classes is a no-brainer.
<p style=
“margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.4px; font: 10.5px Times;”>
“Anything that throws a wall up between a woman and the medicine
she needs is a bad thing,” she said. “It’s another step in the
empowerment of women, though it’s an issue that’s nowhere near
done. Women cannot rely on their partners alone to provide birth
control, so making sure that a woman can take care of that for
herself is vital.”
<p style=
“margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.4px; font: 10.5px Times;”>
Planned Parenthood’s CEO Sarah Stoez has been vocal about the
importance of achieving more affordable birth control in the U.S.
and hopes the new health reform law will require insurance
companies to cover the costs of contraception.
<p style=
“margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.4px; font: 10.5px Times;”>
The Guttmacher Institute, a research organization in New York,
published a survey in 2007 that said one-third of women who take
birth control pills had to either stop or delay use because of the
high price of preventive prescriptions.
<p style=
“margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.4px; font: 10.5px Times;”>
“[Women] understand the injustice of having to pay for [birth
control] when men are not similarly required to make large
out-of-pocket expenses to maintain their own health,” Stoez
said.
<p style=
“margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.4px; font: 10.5px Times;”>
A 2009 report from the same New York-based institute stated that
publicly funded birth control methods save Americans $4 for every
$1 because they prevent approximately 2 million unexpected
pregnancies and 810,000 abortions every year.
<p style=
“margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.4px; font: 10.5px Times;”>
Dr. Seaborn M. Chappell, obstetrician and gynecologist with OB/GYN
Associates of Northwest Alabama, said family planning is essential
in maintaining a woman’s health and the possibility of free birth
control only promotes wiser decision making.
<p style=
“margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.4px; font: 10.5px Times;”>
“Free birth control won’t make any difference in promiscuity among
sexually-active women,” he said. “Unintended pregnancies are one of
the biggest problems in the U.S., so it’s extremely important that
women look out for themselves and that they assume control. They
can’t rely on the judgment of a young man.”
<p style=
“margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.4px; font: 10.5px Times;”>
Though birth control is not currently considered a preventive
medicine by some insurance companies and can range in price from
$50 a month to $200-400 to have an IUD inserted, women with a lower
income can seek assistance in paying for birth control through
their local health department, which offers a “Plan First” program
through Medicaid and other family planning services.
<p style=
“margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.4px; font: 10.5px Times;”>
The UNA Health and Wellness Center offers gynecological exams and
pap smears for women who have paid the student health fee, which is
$50 per semester. Nurse Practitioner Beth Dawson said young women
need to have a yearly exam after age 21 or three years after their
first sexual encounter.
<p style=
“margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.4px; font: 10.5px Times;”>
If a student is interested in starting a birth control regimen, the
clinic writes prescriptions for women who can usually then obtain a
pack of pills for $9 per month at selected pharmacies, according to
Dawson. She said the clinic works to educate students about how to
use birth control effectively in order to prevent unintended
pregnancies.
<p style=
“margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.4px; font: 10.5px Times;”>
“It doesn’t matter if birth control is free or not free—if it’s not
used correctly, it doesn’t matter how much it costs,” Dawson said.
“You see some of the more conservative people say it’s not a
preventive medicine but a lifestyle choice. A lot of it is
preventive care, though and is already available out there for free
or at a low cost.”
<p style=
“margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.4px; font: 10.5px Times;”>
The U.S. Conference of Catholic Bishops recently sent a letter to
the Department of Health and Human Services, relaying their
feelings about the possibility of fully-covered contraception in
the U.S. Spokesperson Richard Doerflinger believes the government
should not require all health insurance companies to cover birth
control because of some Americans’ religious beliefs about
pregnancy.
<p style=
“margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.4px; font: 10.5px Times;”>
UNA student and employee with Rape Response Megan Williams thinks
free birth control and other related services would benefit society
as a whole.
<p style=
“margin: 0px; text-align: justify; text-indent: 14.4px; font: 10.5px Times;”>
“I do think there are a lack of financial resources and awareness
out there that keep women from getting birth control,” she said.
“There have been more efforts in the last decade in many
organizations to raise awareness about why birth control is good
and I don’t see how it could be a bad thing in putting birth
control into the woman’s hands.”