No more breaks on contraceptives for students

BALTIMORE (Map, News) - College women will have to pay more for prescription birth control this fall because of a change in federal law that bars drug companies from discounting contraceptives to college medical centers.

Before the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 was passed earlier this year, pharmaceutical companies could sell contraceptives to college health centers at lower prices, enabling them to charge students a nominal fee. But new provisions, published this month in the Federal Registrar, discontinue the discounts.

“It’s going to really impact our students,” said Lenore Meyers, sexual health educator at Towson University. Meyers said it was too early to tell how much more prescription birth control at Towson will cost as a result of the regulations.

Other universities said some popular birth control will cost nearly four to five times more per month this year.

At the University of Maryland, College Park, for instance, last year’s No. 1 selling birth control pill, Ortho TriCyclen Lo, will cost $55, up from $10 last year, said Deirdre Younger, pharmacist at the University of Maryland Health Center. The cost of the NuvaRing, a popular vaginal insert, will go from $10 to $44.

At Johns Hopkins University, the NuvaRing cost $3 prior to the change in federal regulations. This year, it will cost $33. Ortho TriCyclen Lo, which cost $10 per pack last year, will cost $38 per pack, said Alain Joffe, medical director of Johns Hopkins’ Student Health and Wellness Center.

College health officials say the price increases not only are inconvenient but also pose a risk for students.

mmcilroy@baltimoreexaminer.com

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