Soon, students could be paying more for birth control they get from Schiffert Health Center.
Senate Bill 1932, also known as the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005, was signed into law by President George Bush Feb. 8, 2006 in an attempt to restrain federal spending.
The bill will create a program that will save nearly $40 billion over five years from mandatory spending programs through slowing the growth of spending on Medicare, Medicaid and other measures. The bill would aid by requiring wealthier citizens to pay higher premiums for healthcare and eventually make it possible for increases in federal funding for health issues like programs to support kidney dialysis.
The bill also attempts to get rid of inflated markups that taxpayers will have to fund for the medicine provided by Medicaid, as well as discontinue the allowances that have been made for citizens to make use of loopholes in the system.
However, with its positive implications, the bill will also have its negative ones, including this year’s expected increase in the price of prescription birth control for students.
Prior to the act, pharmaceutical companies that sold birth control to colleges and other small clinics charged a nominal fee, rather than a standard fee to make the prescription easily affordable for students and less fortunate women, ranging from $10 to $20 a month at the most.
With the implementation of the bill, pharmaceutical companies will be required to replace the nominal fees with standard fees which can be as much as $50 a month, more than doubling the price of the most expensive nominal fees.
“We have experienced a rise in cost and some of our most popular methods have risen too high for most of the students. Some of the pharmaceutical companies raised their prices so they would be ready for the law in July,” said Schiffert Women’s Clinic representative Janet Harer. “The American College Health Association is working on having student health centers designated the same as Planned Parenthood so we can continue to receive the lower costs. Hopefully, it will take effect before the law does in July.”
Some Tech students have also voiced the same laments, complaining that the contraceptives have gotten too costly and some resorting to ending their prescriptions.
Not all pharmaceutical companies have raised prices, however. In fact, some companies are working to continue to provide affordable prescriptions to students, such as Ortho-McNeil Pharmaceutical, Inc.
The company manufactures a great deal of birth control, including Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo and Ortho Micronor tablets, as well as the Ortho Evra patch.
"It’s a big deal when prices increase that drastically,” said Ortho-McNeil spokesperson Julie Keenan. “The organization has decided to further lower pricing to meet the needs of women and ensure access to contraceptive choices and work with under-funded public health services.”
The segment of the bill that will cause this rise will be put into effect in July of this year.
