Birth Control Pricing Op-Ed: United Council of Students

There is a crisis occurring on college campuses throughout Wisconsin and the rest of the nation. It is going virtually unnoticed, except to the millions of college women and low-income women it is directly affecting. That is why United Council is speaking out.

For nearly 30 years, federal laws have been in place to help safety net providers, including college health clinics, buy birth control at affordable prices, then pass on their savings to college and low-income women. But last year, Congress changed this long-standing law — putting affordable contraception out of reach for millions of women.

Women on college campuses used to pay between $5 and $10 a month for birth control. Now, because of the change in the law, college women are paying upwards of $40 and $50 a month for birth control. That translates into an additional $500 out of their pockets, a costly expense for women who are struggling to pay for tuition, books and their daily living expenses. To give you a real idea of how much money that is a for a college student, $500 is approximately an entire semester worth of books, or 71 extra hours of work per year that could be spent studying or approximately 1 month of rent. Should affording a year supply of birth control pills really cost the same as an extra month of rent? We certainly don’t think so.  

How did this happen? The Deficit Reduction Act (DRA), passed by Congress in 2006 included a provision that adversely affects the ability of university health centers and safety net family planning providers to purchase contraceptives at a discounted or nominal price. It was an inadvertent outcome of a complicated change in the law. However, nothing has been done to fix it and millions of college women and low-income are suffering the consequences.

Now, we have a bill that will fix the problem. It’s called the Prevention Through Affordable Access Act. It will bring down the rising cost of birth control to college health clinics and safety-net providers without costing taxpayers a single dime. The bill simply clarifies that college health clinics and other safety-net providers are eligible to purchase nominally priced birth control.

The legislation has drawn bipartisan support in both the House and the Senate. Four of Wisconsin’s eight congressional leaders have indicated their support for the legislation. Congressman Obey has not yet indicated his support for this critical fix to restore access to affordable birth control.

Congressman Obey has long been a supporter of women’s access to prevention-based health care. We appeal to him to show that same leadership and join in the fight to restore college women’s access to birth control.

Without affordable birth control, the rate of unintended pregnancies could increase. This bill is simply good public policy. It’s time to do what’s right, and ensure that affordable birth control is available to all women in need in time for the New Year.