<p>" Georgetown is a Catholic institution. Surely she and her classmates knew that when they applied?"</p>
<p>Apparently not. Next they’ll be demanding that Georgetown remove the crosses from the campus.</p>
<p>There could be some validity to the argument of cost and access if Georgetown was in a remote, rural area. But not in the mecca of birth control cheap access.</p>
<p>I hate that Planned Parenthoods are closing down, they are such a great and inexpensive place for women to get birth control and exams. If I lost my insurance, that would be where I would go.</p>
<p>Ms. Fluke’s testimony focused on women being denied coverage for medication needed to treat serious medical conditions. Such conditions include polycystic ovarian syndrome, endometriosis, excessive menstrual bleeding, birth control when other medical conditions make pregnancy contraindicated, etc., etc. etc. Georgetown apparently has a provision in their insurance plan that allows coverage of contraception for reasons other than birth control; however, the insurer has often denied coverage and/or forced women to “prove” that the contraception was not being used to prevent birth.</p>
<p>This, by the way, is coverage made available through Georgetown, but paid for by the students. Most of us must rely on our employer or in this case, our school, in order to gain access to health insurance. Non-group plans are cost prohibitive for most people. Thus when Georgetown or any other group excludes certain treatments based on other than medical considerations, many will be denied access to critical, basic care.</p>
<p>My Catholic mother had five children, never having used birth control, but at age fifty was put on “the pill” after she collapsed from blood loss caused by uterine fibroids. A young friend has severe polycystic ovarian syndrome, treated in part through prescribed hormones (i.e. “the pill”). For conditions such as these, it is critical that women be put on the right medication. Often, generics will aggravate rather than improve the underlying condition. This is a medical decision best made by the patient in consultation with her doctor.</p>
<p>According to this expert in the field, bcp would be much cheaper if it were sold over the counter, and can be produced for under 20 cents per pack.</p>
<p>And he apparently thinks youbtake the pill every time you have sex. Not daily. Some men getting and some males don’t. When I was on bc, the genetics gave me a rash. </p>
<p>My d goes to a catholic university. We knew that going in. We found a great clinic. </p>
<p>With people marrying later, putting off having children, etc, this expense needs to be covered. I told my daughter if she ever was short funds for bc, in will happily pay. </p>
<p>I just hate that institutions claim some sort of moral superiority to deny coverage. The church, eh, they are hypocrite in this regard anyway. Most catholic women by their own admission have used birth control. This is what happens when you get a bunch of supposedly delegate old men making life decisions for women.</p>
<p>First, during an emergency room visit, I experienced the joys of a D&C without anesthetic. (It would have cost $3000 just to step into the OR. Having it done in the OR under general anesthesia “because the women kept screaming” was standard practice, but as the attending OB/GYN said, “You seem pretty stoic.” This was after several other painful procedures.)</p>
<p>Owie.
I had a d/c in a clinic examining room after a miscarriage. No anesthesia. Danish male OB. He was irritated because I wasn’t as stoic as he thought I should be. I think many males who have anything to do with OB/GYN need to reeducated.</p>
<p>I am not an expert on prescription drugs (just an infrequent user, at best), but my understanding of “generics” is that they are simply a formerly brand-name drug whose patent has expired and therefore the formulation becomes available for identical manufacture by any drug company in the market place. Resulting competition drives the price down.</p>
<p>I sometimes wonder exactly how identical generics are. </p>
<p>I take the over-the-counter version of Allegra. Normally I buy the RiteAid product, but this fall I bought a box from WalMart. After a short while, I started sneezing and having low-level symptoms. I didn’t think anything of it until I finished the WalMart pills and went back on the RiteAid version…and all symptoms ceased within a day.</p>
<p>Pizzagirl, the original question the kid had asked was “Does birth control really cost $3,000 a year (or for three years)?” </p>
<p>My answer meant nothing more than “No. It does not”. Condoms are inexpensive, require no prescription and have the added benefit of protecting from sexually transmitted diseases.</p>
<p>The cheap prices you list for contraceptive pills are for a Canadian online pharmacy. I don’t consider this a reasonable option. I think there are serious issues of safety and legality that at least in my case compel the purchase of all drugs from a US pharmacy–I don’t know how to determine that some online purveyor is selling legit drugs or some garbage from China, and I have no clue whether its legal to import them into my state.</p>
<p>I didn’t know that they are Canadian and they were the only site that I could easily find that had prices. I tried CVS but they don’t list any prices for oral contraceptives. Someone concerned about cost, though, could do the research on birthcontrol.com.</p>
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<p>There are very high-quality products that come from china in addition to low-quality products. I would be careful about painting with a broad brush.</p>
<p>If contraception weren’t so intertwined with morality in many people’s minds, this would be a lot simpler. Can you imagine any other service/product that prevents so much future expense not being exuberantly encouraged? </p>
<p>Not to mention the head-spinning illogic of abortion opponents also being against birth control. (!!!) </p>
<p>I think birth control should be free, free, free, and we should be openly encouraging birth control and condom use among all young people. Instead we make it increasingly difficult, especially for young and poor women.</p>
<p>I am also discouraged by the insensitivity and gross ignorance about the basic facts of biology and health care financing found among legislators.</p>
<p>Birth control can never be free; someone must pay for it one way or another. I assume you mean that it should be paid for by taxpayer funds.</p>
<p>If birth control pills could be made available over-the-counter for $8 per month, that is pretty close to free, and it would remove any political debate from the subject.</p>
<p>I also think there should be one 4-year college in every state that is completely tuition-free to instate students who mean a certain standard of scholarship. But that is another thread…</p>