FROM NEWSWEEK
Should Birth Control On Campus Be Free?
Experts are discussing whether the birth-control pill should be considered preventive care under Obama’s health plan.
Every month George Washington University freshman Jessi Payton walks to the pharmacy on campus and pays $15 for her birth-control prescription. Her mother’s insurance covers the bulk of the cost, and the rest comes from the money she saved waiting tables last summer. Since she doesn’t have a steady income, Payton is grateful for her mom’s assistance. “I know so many people who need to go on the pill, and they can’t because it costs too much money or their parents won’t pay for it with their insurance,” she says. “It’s scary because that doesn’t mean they aren’t having sex.”
While college health centers have been handing out complimentary condoms to students for years, birth-control pills have always been held under lock and key (unless, you have a prescription and a way to pay). Under President Obama’s new health-care plan, however, that could all change. A panel of experts got together last month to begin discussing which kind of preventive care for women should be covered for free. Sen. Barbara Mikulski, who wrote the women’s health amendment to the plan, has said the aim was always to include family planning. But whether the birth-control pill falls under that definition and whether it should be deemed preventive medicine—and hence, free—has sparked a debate from college campuses to Capitol Hill
READ MORE
Should Birth Control On Campus Be Free?
Experts are discussing whether the birth-control pill should be considered preventive care under Obama’s health plan.
Every month George Washington University freshman Jessi Payton walks to the pharmacy on campus and pays $15 for her birth-control prescription. Her mother’s insurance covers the bulk of the cost, and the rest comes from the money she saved waiting tables last summer. Since she doesn’t have a steady income, Payton is grateful for her mom’s assistance. “I know so many people who need to go on the pill, and they can’t because it costs too much money or their parents won’t pay for it with their insurance,” she says. “It’s scary because that doesn’t mean they aren’t having sex.”
While college health centers have been handing out complimentary condoms to students for years, birth-control pills have always been held under lock and key (unless, you have a prescription and a way to pay). Under President Obama’s new health-care plan, however, that could all change. A panel of experts got together last month to begin discussing which kind of preventive care for women should be covered for free. Sen. Barbara Mikulski, who wrote the women’s health amendment to the plan, has said the aim was always to include family planning. But whether the birth-control pill falls under that definition and whether it should be deemed preventive medicine—and hence, free—has sparked a debate from college campuses to Capitol Hill
READ MORE
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