| Cost of birth control increases on campus |
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| Written by Jhericca Johnson, The Shorthorn staff | |||||
| Tuesday, 29 January 2008 08:05 PM | |||||
  The cost of a popular birth control pill has increased, forcing some university students to purchase alternative brands or pay the price. Jane Gartenhaus, Health Services chief pharmacist, said Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo, has increased from $10 to $40. “Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo was our lowest costing brand, and the only brand we had a contract with,” she said. “It was popular because of the cost – it was only $10.” Students with university health insurance only saw a five-dollar difference, from $10 to $15, she said. Gartenhaus said the Deficit Reduction Act signed by President George Bush in February 2006, removed contracts that several colleges had with the company. She said the effects are just starting to show. “When we heard they were pulling the contract, we bought as much as we could,” she said. The clinic began selling the popular brand at the increased price when the clinic it ran out of its supply. Since then students have been purchasing one of the 19 other brands the university offers. However, students are still surprised to find out about the new price. “We still have people walking in, surprised,” she said. “They’ll come in after having a year’s worth and now they have to get new ones, and can’t because of the price.” Gartenhaus said students have been purchasing generic brands of birth control or going to outside pharmacies. “The generic brands are cheaper, running from $20 to $28,” she said. Since the price went up, the clinic has made less money on the pills, Gratenhaus said. “We don’t give away everything for free and the money we make from students goes back to funding the clinic,” she said. “Now, we’re making less on those items and losing a little of our profit from them.” At UT-Dallas Health Services, director Beverly Ballard said they didn’t really experience the price change. She said because the generic brand cost the same now as Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo did before, and students have just switched over to the generic. “I hated the fact that we couldn’t offer the brand to our students at the same low price anymore,” she said. “But we can’t afford it anymore because of legislation.” Education freshman Jordan Sibila said if she bought her pills from the university clinic, she wouldn’t be able to afford it. Sibila uses another brand called Seasonale, which lasts for four months before refills are needed. She said she believes college students are on a budget, and probably can’t afford Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo anymore. “If you’re paying $30 a month, for 12 months, you’re paying more than $300 a year,” she said. “That’s just too much.” Sibila said she thinks there may be an increase in pregnancy and health related problems in women on campus because the of the pill’s cost. Sibila takes her birth control for health as well, and said she would be shocked if she found out her pills were $30 extra. “They shouldn’t have passed that law to raise the price,” she said. InformationBirth control success rates:• Abstinence — 100 percent • Condom on male — 86 percent • Diaphragm — 80 percent • Fertility Awareness — 75 percent • Oral contraceptive — 95 percent • Ortho-Evra patch — 99 percent Every year in the United States, there are 60 million women in the childbearing years of 15 to 44 : * 70 percent of these women are sexually active * 64 percent use a form of contraception * 3 million use no contraception, accounting for 47 percent of unplanned pregnancies * 6 million women deal with infertility * 2 million married couples are infertile * 468,988 babies are born to teenage mothers each year * 11 percent of pregnant woman are diagnosed with postpartum depression * 820,000 woman smoke cigarettes while pregnant * 221,000 women use illicit drugs during pregnancy * 757,000 woman drink alcohol while pregnant * 240,000 pregnant women are subject to domestic violence - 40 percent of assaults begin during the first pregnancy - Pregnant women are at twice the risk of battery Source: www.americanpregnancy.org Views: 2091 | E-mail
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| Last Updated ( Saturday, 23 February 2008 09:25 PM ) | |||||
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