Contraceptives access limited

Contraceptive prices rise on college campuses

Date published: 8/1/2007

BY TESS HAMILTON

A change in federal law has put a new roadblock in college students' access to contraceptives on campus. Drug makers are no longer offering discounts to school clinics buying the sometimes controversial medication.

Students returning to many college campuses this fall will be met with higher prices and a different, if not smaller, selection of contraceptive products than in the past.

The reason for these changes is the Deficit Reduction Act, which went into effect early this year. Under the new law, drug companies no longer sell contraceptives to school clinics at a discount, a practice that has kept prices low in the past--around $15 per month for a month's supply on average, less than one-third the retail price.

As stores of contraceptives bought before the change run out, the higher prices have changed health clinic offerings and student demand.

Students at schools that sell contraception through a campus pharmacy, or receive prescription drug benefits as part of their student health plan, are relatively insulated from the price increases, but may still face other concerns.

Despite the price increases, school pharmacies can often offer discounts that community pharmacies cannot. Student health plans may also allow women to purchase contraceptives with an insurance subsidy through school or other pharmacies without informing their parents.

Even schools that offer such options, however, are cutting back on their name-brand contraceptive offerings. George Mason University, for example, now only carries generics in its pharmacy.

But not all name brand contraceptives are available as generics, meaning that students at many schools have had to switch their prescriptions.

Those hardest hit by the price change, however, are schools that distribute contraceptives outside of student insurance programs.

At James Madison University, for example, students receive contraceptives as part of a women's health care package separate from student insurance. More expensive contraceptives have increased the price of the package, and the clinic does not accept insurance.

Ann Simmons, RN, coordinator of health promotion at JMU, says that demand for the clinic's services has not dropped, though the clinic now distributes generic products to help offset some of the cost increase.

Practitioners have also started discussing outside options for contraceptives and writing prescriptions for students to fill at local pharmacies instead, where they can use insurance discounts. Simmons says, though, that this raises privacy concerns.

"I don't think they took into account how many people are paying out of pocket versus using insurance [for contraceptives]," she said, to avoid involving their parents.

Simmons sees this as a counterproductive measure, which she and other clinic staff have lobbied to have reconsidered. "This is the age where students are seeking health care on their own, trying to be independent or responsible," she said, adding that the changes only penalize students when they're already being squeezed financially.

Tess Hamilton: 540/374-5000
Email: thamilton@freelancestar.com

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Date published: 8/1/2007