It seems that a change in Medicaid regulations is forcing up the cost of birth control for college students --from $10 a month to $35. From the wailing in this Houston Chronicle article, you'd think that it was "the end of the world as we know it."

Daisy Rios, a senior at UH, left the health center empty-handed after learning that her formerly $10-per-month pills now cost $35. Because of warnings from the clinic, she knew the increase was imminent, but she still felt sticker shock when it kicked in, she said.

"That was just a little too much to pay for at that time," said Rios, 22, who lives with her parents and holds a work-study job during the school year. She still had a two-week supply of pills left, she said, so she had some time to decide whether to purchase another pack.

At $35, oral contraceptives at UH still are cheaper than the same medication at most retail pharmacies for a woman without insurance. At a local Walgreens, for example, Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo costs $54 per month. But generic pills are available there starting at $24, the same price as generics at UH.

Planned Parenthood sells brand-name and generic oral contraceptives for $31 per month, but some students can qualify for free medication.

Many students have switched to generic contraceptives because they're cheaper, said Mary Hoban, project director for the American College Health Association. But the price still isn't as low as that of the name brands that previously were offered at discounted rates, she said.

There also isn't a corresponding generic for every name-brand contraceptive, including Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo. Nor is there one for the popular NuvaRing, a device that some women use as an alternative to pills.

"People are quick to say generics are the answer, but it's still twice the cost (as before) and it's not always available for the particular pill or product," Hoban said.

Now let's look at this. The increase is less than a bottle of water or soda a day. Indeed, a switch to generics is about the cost of three lunches at McDonalds a month. And we won't get into the question of abstinence, despite the fact that it would be the best choice for most of the students in question, since they are single and living on such a fixed income that they cannot afford even this token increase in the cost of birth control -- how could they possibly afford the child that a failure of the pill could bring about?

No, what we have here is an entitlement mentality run rampant, combined with a lack of morality.

Posted by: Greg at 02:35 AM | No Comments | Add Comment
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