By Brian Ray
The cost of a pack of birth control pills has increased $5 for University of Louisville students, according to, Dr. Phillip Bressoud.
“The price we have had to pay for a pack of pills has increased to about $10 to $11,” the U of L Campus Health Services Executive Director said. “We used to only have to pay $5 per pack.”
The price increase is due to the 2005 Deficit Reduction Act. According to Planned Parenthood, under the act every college, university health center and hundreds of safety-net providers were cut off from accessing low-cost birth control. Therefore the low price could not be passed along to college students and low income women. The average price has increased more than 10 times the previous cost at most colleges and universities nationwide.
For U of L students, the price has increased $5 per pack to $15 for a month supply.
“Through working very closely with University Hospital we have been able to keep the cost of a pack of birth control reasonably low,” said Bressoud. “We currently carry five different brands; one is a name brand while the other four are generic.”
However, students who used to pay $120 a year for their birth control can see a price increase of $30 a year if they buy two-six month supplies.
“Students buying in multiples get a discount,” said Bressoud. “A student could save $5 if they bought a three month supply for $40. Students who buy a six month supply can do so for $75, which will save them $15.”
The 2005 Deficit Reduction Act was designed to save taxpayers money on Medicaid reimbursements for drugs. This has caused pharmaceutical companies to stop selling their products at deeply discounted rates. This has had a negative effect for an estimated three million college women using birth control, according to U.S. News and World Report.
A 2006 survey conducted by the American College Health Association (ACHA) found 39 percent of undergraduate college women use oral contraceptives.
“Many providers are afraid that if the convenience of free or cheap birth control on campus is taken away, female students might just get turned off by prescription birth control methods altogether and use other less effective ones like condoms or Plan B, known as the morning after pill.”
But Planned Parenthood reported, “Both the U.S. House of Representatives and the U.S. Senate have introduced legislation, the Prevention Through Affordable Access Act, that would restore affordable birth control at college health clinics and safety-net providers and increase access to affordable birth control.”
Bressoud said any current U of L student is eligible for discounted birth control. However, the student is required to have a pap smear.
