Take Action: Birth Control Prices Skyrocket!

As I posted on earlier, the price of birth control on college campuses and many clinics serving low-income women has increased dramatically! At some campuses and clinics it has doubled, at others it has have tripled, and at some it has gone up five times, from $10 to $50 a month.

Take action: Sign a petition demanding that Congress restore affordable birth control for college campuses and clinics!

The reason for this dramatic price increase is because the Bush Administration and his Republican Congress changed the Medicaid rules in the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, which just went into effect on January 1, 2007.

For almost 20 years, pharmaceuticals were able to offer a steep discount on prescription drugs, including birth control pills, to some health care providers such as college health centers and clinics serving low-income women. This allowed college health centers and many independent clinics serving low-income women to provide birth control at a substantial discount. As a result young women and low-income women across the country were able to protect themselves against unintended pregnancy.

However, under the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, having discounts increases the money companies must pay to participate in Medicaid. As a result, pharmaceuticals are no longer going to offer discounts to campus health centers and many clinics serving low-income women, and prices for birth control pills are soaring. Women who cannot afford these new costs are forced to use less effective methods of birth control or stop using birth control altogether.

As a result, college women are facing an increased risk of unintended pregnancy and serious health risks. Some 39% of women in college use birth control pills, according to the American College Health Association, not only for contraception but also for health conditions such as endometriosis.