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Iowa college students protest cost of birth control pill
DES MOINES (AP) --- More than 400 Iowa college students have signed a petition protesting federal legislation that has made getting birth control more expensive.
The 2005 Deficit Reduction Act went into effect in January and changes the way manufacturers calculate Medicaid-related rebates to states, making it more costly for them to offer discounts to colleges.
The higher prices are for college women who don't have insurance or don't want to use their parents' insurance because they don't want their parents to know. Prices for birth control products, such as Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo, have increased from $15 a pack to $53 a pack at student health centers at Iowa's three public universities. The petition also includes students from some of Iowa's private universities.
"We think affordable birth control is something we can all agree on," said Dana Gustafson, a junior at Drake University and a member of an abortion-rights group that has lobbied for the petition drive.
The petition will be presented to Sen. Tom Harkin and Charles Grassley next month, said Julie Stauch, vice president of governmental affairs at Planned Parenthood of Greater Iowa.
The petition was part of a nationwide effort coordinated by the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, where petitions on the cost of birth control are being drafted and signed at campuses across the country.
About six university health centers nationwide have discontinued selling contraceptives as a result of the legislation, according to the American College Health Association.
Many campuses bought birth control in bulk before the legislation went into effect, but 75 percent of the association's 141 members have run out of the supply, said Mary Hoban, an association spokeswoman.
The University of Iowa ran out of its supply of Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo after its price at the university jumped from $15 to $53 per month.
The University of Northern Iowa is still offering it at $15 until next semester. Pharmacists at Iowa State expect their lower-cost supply to run out in August 2008.
Kim Spading, a pharmacist at Iowa's student health center, said some doctors have worked with students to switch to generic brands of birth control to keep costs down.
"To be honest, a lot of the birth control pills are so similar there is not any reason one is better than another," she said.
But opponents of the price increase say generic brands carry possible side effects.
"I'm hearing providers frustrated by that: They can't prescribe the best medication. They have to go by what the student can afford the pay," said Hoban of the college health association.
The 2005 Deficit Reduction Act went into effect in January and changes the way manufacturers calculate Medicaid-related rebates to states, making it more costly for them to offer discounts to colleges.
The higher prices are for college women who don't have insurance or don't want to use their parents' insurance because they don't want their parents to know. Prices for birth control products, such as Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo, have increased from $15 a pack to $53 a pack at student health centers at Iowa's three public universities. The petition also includes students from some of Iowa's private universities.
"We think affordable birth control is something we can all agree on," said Dana Gustafson, a junior at Drake University and a member of an abortion-rights group that has lobbied for the petition drive.
The petition will be presented to Sen. Tom Harkin and Charles Grassley next month, said Julie Stauch, vice president of governmental affairs at Planned Parenthood of Greater Iowa.
The petition was part of a nationwide effort coordinated by the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, where petitions on the cost of birth control are being drafted and signed at campuses across the country.
About six university health centers nationwide have discontinued selling contraceptives as a result of the legislation, according to the American College Health Association.
Many campuses bought birth control in bulk before the legislation went into effect, but 75 percent of the association's 141 members have run out of the supply, said Mary Hoban, an association spokeswoman.
The University of Iowa ran out of its supply of Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo after its price at the university jumped from $15 to $53 per month.
The University of Northern Iowa is still offering it at $15 until next semester. Pharmacists at Iowa State expect their lower-cost supply to run out in August 2008.
Kim Spading, a pharmacist at Iowa's student health center, said some doctors have worked with students to switch to generic brands of birth control to keep costs down.
"To be honest, a lot of the birth control pills are so similar there is not any reason one is better than another," she said.
But opponents of the price increase say generic brands carry possible side effects.
"I'm hearing providers frustrated by that: They can't prescribe the best medication. They have to go by what the student can afford the pay," said Hoban of the college health association.
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olof wrote on Nov 5, 2007 12:59 PM:
" The liberals always complain that the conservatives want to monitor what goes on in the bedroom. I don't.
And in that vein, the government has no business telling people if they should have sex or not.
Additionaly, the government then has no responsibility to subsidize it.
If college women want to have sex, they or their boyfriend can buy protection, or they can choose to not have sex.It isn't the taxpayer that should pay for it.
"
gmaro wrote on Nov 5, 2007 1:38 PM:
" Have they ever heard of abstinence. If they're too immature to tell parents they need birth control then they shouldn't be having sex in the first place. "
MrsMom wrote on Nov 5, 2007 2:51 PM:
" Olof, I completly agree with you, however, I also am certain many of them would have sex witout protection if there was none provided and then the taxpayers would have the pleasure of providing them with food stamps, title 19, public housing, all of that stuff. "
(return of) joe wrote on Nov 5, 2007 3:42 PM:
" gmaro...remember the old saying about he who lives in glass houses? I have reason to believe that few of us on here were the little abstinent angels that we profess to be. "
Chloe wrote on Nov 5, 2007 5:42 PM:
" Gmaro, There are other reasons that women go on birth control. Some women go on it not because they are sexually active but to regulate their cycles. If they are sexually active, then those getting the birth control pills are taking steps to try to protect themselves, which shows maturity not immaturity and whether they tell their parents is a choice only they can make. "
gmaro wrote on Nov 5, 2007 8:05 PM:
" joe I don't profess to be an angel and Chloe I understand there are other reasons to go on birth control but it is still a sign of immaturity if you want someone else (a parents insurance) to pay for it. You have to be mature enough to act like an adult if you want to be treated as one. Why do I have to accept generics when a name brand is better- cause my insurance says so or pay full price for name brand. "
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Steady wrote on Nov 5, 2007 12:52 PM: