No-Cost Birth Control
No-cost birth control means that women could get their prescription birth control filled without a co-pay or any out-of-pocket payments under the new health care reform law. § No-cost birth control empowers women to be in charge of their own health care and make reproductive choices that are right for them. § There is currently a debate in Congress surrounding whether or not birth control will be considered “preventive health care.” There is no guarantee that birth control under the health care reform will be at no-cost. Congress has asked The Department of Health and Human services to make a decision about what should be considered preventive health care. § The new health care system has the potential to provide no-cost birth control for millions of women. § What is preventive health care? o Preventive health care refers to measures taken to prevent a disease or illness. o Preventive health care, including birth control, ensures that women have the healthiest pregnancies possible when they make the decision to start a family. § Extremists who state that birth control is not a preventive health service believe that, since pregnancy is not a disease or illness, it should not be prevented. However birth control allows women to make decisions about their reproductive life. Also, birth control is often prescribed for more than just pregnancy prevention. § Birth control is used for more than just preventing pregnancy. Birth control has been used to help with heavy menstruation, irregular periods and acne. Birth control is used to help protect against health problems that affect women such as ovarian cysts, bone loss, benign breast disease, polycystic ovary syndrome symptoms and anemia. § The American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, the American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, and other prominent medical groups refer to family planning as recommended preventive care. § Children of unintended pregnancies face potentially life threatening consequences. These include: delayed or inadequate prenatal care, increased fetal exposure to tobacco and alcohol, increased likelihood of low-birth-weight and death within the first year of life. Reducing the number of unintended pregnancies will increase the health of our children. § Nearly one-third of teenage girls become pregnant before reaching the age of 20. Access to no-cost birth control will significantly reduce this number. § Young adults (18-24) have the highest risk for unintended pregnancies. This age group also tends to work lower income jobs right out of school, making it difficult to pay the cost of birth control. § Some women are choosing not to use birth control because of the financial burden it brings. Birth control adds up! Some brand name contraceptives cost as much as $46 a month. That’s $552 a year; a significant amount of money for low income families. § One in three women in the United States has struggled with the cost of prescription birth control at some point. This number increases among women of color (57% of Latinas and 54% of African-American women). § Nearly half of all pregnancies in the U.S. are unintended. It is estimated that no-cost birth control will reduce the number of unintended pregnancies by 2 million a year! § Reducing the number of unintended pregnancies will ultimately reduce the need for abortion. § Nine out of ten Americans support family planning health care that is partially funded by public funds. § Three out of four believe that contraception should be covered as a preventive health-service with no out-of-pocket costs. Sources: NARAL Pro-Choice America Foundation, Health-Care Law Holds Tremendous Promise for Women’s Reproductive-Health Care (January 2011) NARAL Pro-Choice America Foundation, BC4ME Campus Activist Kit Spring 2011 National Family Planning and Reproductive Health Association, The public and Preventive Health Benefits of Family Planning (August 2010) Pear, R. Officials Consider Requiring Insurers to Offer Free contraceptives (2 February 2011) Raising Women’s Voices, Health Care Reform: What Young Adults Should Know (Fall 2010). Retrieved from http://www.raisingwomensvoices.net/storage/RWV-Young-Adult-Event-Planning-Guide-FINAL.pdf Raising Women’s Voices, Health Reform and Young Adults: What Do You Need to Know? (Fall 2010, PowerPoint Presentation). Retrieved from http://www.raisingwomensvoices.net/educ-yourself-young-women/
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