[Ip-health] College students pay more for the pill

[Joana Ramos]

*College students pay more for the pill*

*Law ends low-cost birth control at UW and campus clinics nationwide*

/Monday, July 23, 2007/
/Last updated July 24, 2007 1:25 p.m. PT/
*SEATTLE POST-INTELLIGENCER*
http://seattlepi.nwsource.com/health/324700_birthcontrol23.html

*By CHRISTINE FREY*
P-I REPORTER

(Editor's note: This story has been changed since it was originally
published. The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services declined
earlier this month to expand the list of groups that could buy birth
control at a discount from drug companies. The earlier version misstated
the timing of that decision.)

College students may have to pay more for birth control -- in some cases
doubling or nearly tripling their previous costs -- at campus pharmacies
when they return to school this fall.

The price increase is the result in a change in federal regulations that
no longer allows campus health centers to buy contraceptives at a
reduced cost from pharmaceutical companies.

Instead of paying about $15 a month for oral contraceptives, students
now face prices of more than $40 in some cases. That could particularly
cause a financial strain on students who lack health insurance or who
bought birth control out-of-pocket, not wanting to use their parents'
health plan.

Rachel Arnold, a 25-year-old married graduate student at the University
of Washington, was hit with the higher prices for birth control earlier
this year. Instead of paying $16 a month, she now has to go through
health insurance and fork over a $25 co-pay. If she didn't have
insurance, it would cost even more.

"It just adds up, you know?" she said.

Some campus pharmacies, such as the UW's Hall Health Primary Care
Clinic, stocked up on birth control when they could still buy it at the
reduced price. But they are now running out of the discounted product.

At one point, the UW offered 14 different oral contraceptives at a
reduced cost, pharmacy director John Medina said. Now the pharmacy is
down to one, and Medina expects to run out of that supply within a month.

In recent months, he saw a few students switch medications for price
alone, buying discounted birth control that was still in supply.

"They were chasing price," Medina said.

* *College students may be strapped for cash, having to pay for the
costs of their education and living expenses. Some, especially older
graduate students, may already be married and supporting children as well.

* *Pharmaceutical companies offered name-brand contraceptives to student
health centers at a discount to introduce college consumers to their
products. The health centers typically passed on the low cost to students.

But a change in the Deficit Reduction Action of 2005 to close a loophole
limited the types of entities that could receive drugs at a discount.

"We were basically collateral damage," said Linda LaSalle, co-chairwoman
of the advocacy collation of the American College Health Association.

The association had lobbied to qualify student health center pharmacies
for the low-cost birth control, but the Centers for Medicare and
Medicaid Services declined earlier this month to expand the list of
eligible entities.

The association now plans to work with members of Congress.

In the meantime, students may have fewer options for contraceptives or
have to switch to a generic version. They also may be priced out of new
innovations in birth control, such as the NuvaRing, which eliminates the
need to take a pill daily.

Thirty-eight percent of college students use birth control pills to
prevent pregnancy, according to a 2006 spring survey by the health
association.

UW student Arnold said she's looking at switching to a generic pill that
would cost less than her current form of birth control.

"It was a bad decision," she said of the ruling not to allow campus
health centers to receive low-cost drugs.

Some college health officials worry that cash-strapped students may
forgo birth control to pay for other necessities such as food. That
could lead to more students taking emergency contraceptive or having
unplanned pregnancies or abortions, LaSalle said.

"Our interest is preventing all of that by trying to make low-cost
options available."

------------------------------------------------------------------------

/P-I reporter Christine Frey can be reached at 206-448-8176 or
christinefrey@seattlepi.com.
/

/-------------------------
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Joana Ramos, MSW
Cancer Resources & Advocacy
Seattle WA USA
+1-206-229-2420
http://ramsolink.info/
www.cancersurvivorsproject.org
www.healthyskepticism.org
www.mavinfoundation.org