Come next year, thousands of female students will find birth control more affordable, and those pregnant or with children also will see their financial burden reduced.
Beginning Aug. 1, 2012, women with insurance will be able to acquire birth control at no cost, under new guidelines announced by the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services.
The change applies to all women who carry insurance, including students covered under their parents’ plans, said Melissa Nitti, a spokesperson for the department.
“Some plans already cover these benefits, and others may begin ahead of the Aug. 1 timeline,” Nitti said in an email. “Often because of cost, Americans (currently use) preventative services at about half the recommended rate.”
The new guidelines also will affect student parents, allowing them free access to many child health care services.
These will include vaccinations against several life-threatening conditions, as well as regular doctor visits until the child is 21.
The guidelines also will provide sexually-transmitted infection protection, such as HIV screening and counseling.
For pregnant students, the guidelines also include prenatal care such as counseling, screenings and vaccines. Beginning in 2014, government-sponored insurance plans also will cover vision and dental coverage for children.
About 90 percent of students who come to Olin Health Center carry some form of insurance, said Jo Harmson, Olin’s patient account manager. Some rely on existing forms of government assistance and student health services’ three initial subsidized visits.
“(The new guidelines are) a significant step for all persons in our country,” Olin’s Coordinator for Sexual Health Erica Phillipich said in an email. “It should result in women utilizing more preventative care, but you cannot leave (men) out of the conversation if we are strictly speaking on birth control.”
The changes come in conjunction with the Affordable Health Care Act, signed into law by President Barack Obama in 2010.
Public health graduate student Elizabeth Lojewski said the move is a significant step for helping college students, as many are deterred from getting prescriptions because of how expensive it is to get refilled.
She said she thinks it also could change some of the social problems associated with birth control.
“I think if you make it free — if you make it a public service – it takes away a lot of the stigma,” Lojewski said.
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