Birth Control Prices

Birth control prices can vary as much as gasoline at the pumps these days. It all depends on what you and your partner are looking to use and how much you have to spend.

Many methods of birth control for women and men are available, such as the pill and natural family planning. Each has its own price tag and failure rate. Making sure each method is used or taken correctly counts toward its effectiveness. Birth control prices can also vary depending on your health insurance provider or if you receive birth control free from your doctor or organizations such as Planned Parenthood.

The attached chart lists some -- but not all -- methods of birth control, roughly how much it cost to use it each year and its effectiveness. The information was gathered from the American Pregnancy Association.

On Jan. 1, the provisions of the federal Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 went into effect. In a nutshell, the law states individuals, such as college students, who receive prescription hormone contraceptives from public health programs (i.e. on campus) will see a significant increase in birth control prices.

This act limits what kind of organizations can purchase discounted bulk medication directly from drug companies. Since the government reimburses those companies, the law is designed to save money. But the drug companies could lose money instead. Organizations, such as public university student health clinics, will be excluded from purchasing the medications at a discount and will have to pay a higher rate. Therefore, colleges will have to charge the consumer the higher price as well, which in this case can be a mark up of up to 400 percent. This has not set well with college students since some insurance prescription plans do no cover birth control, and therefore will not help absorb this cost increase.

However, organizations such as Planned Parenthood offers birth control on a sliding scale fee and won't have to increase its birth control prices as much as the public colleges. The nonprofit group receives other government support and local contributions as means of keeping its prices down.

Some of the hormonal contraceptives that have significantly increased in price are:

• Ortho Tri-Cyclen
• NuvaRing
• Alesse
• LoOvral
• Ortho Cyclen
• Ortho-Novum
• Modicon

As a means of making birth control more accessible to women, the Food and Drug Administration is considering an over-the-counter oral contraceptives based on the drug's safety record. The FDA concluded that this would benefit women by reducing the problems they may have getting prescriptions, specifically those who are uninsured and can't afford the doctor's visit. This, in turn, would mean the oral contraceptives would cost the consumer less. The FDA concluded that by offering oral contraceptives over-the-counter, the number of unplanned pregnancies would decrease; therefore, lowering the medical costs for the consumer and the government, which supplies medical treatments to those who need it.

If you look at birth control prices from a moral or religious standpoint or if you just don't want to use barrier methods or hormones, there are probably only two methods you are concerned with: the two cheapest on the market, too.

• Natural Family Planning -- Also known as fertility awareness or periodic abstinence, this method works by abstaining from intercourse on the days when a woman is ovulating.
• Abstinence means just what the terms implies -- abstaining from intercourse altogether. Besides being cost effective, the risks of pregnancy or sexually transmitted diseases are not present.

When deciding on what form of birth control to use, make sure you are well-informed of all the facts -- method, cost and effectiveness -- before coming to a decision.

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