Birth Control Should Be Free Of Cost

The article “Republicans Aim to End Birth Control Benefit in Last-Minute Obamacare Repeal Push (Update)” supports Cohens article and idea. Cohen repeats the same idea in the article, that opponents of birth control have a possibility of changing the easy accessibility of birth control. Christine Grimaldi includes insights from Janel George, the director of federal rights and health, “Unfortunately, it would return us to a time where a woman’s access to birth control or her access to the coverage she needs would depend upon her zip code, George said in a phone interview” (Grimaldi, par.11). “Republicans Aim to End Birth Control Benefit in Last-Minute Obamacare Repeal Push (Update)” shows the credibility of

Debates are ongoing in the United States as more laws and restrictions are implemented on reproductive care. In 2014 there was a heated debate on whether there should be a mandated coverage for birth control on health insurance plans. According to a survey by the University of Michigan Health System, 69% of adults in the United States support this requirement in health insurance plans and the people who oppose this requirement is less than 10%. There have been other laws made by states recently that are affecting birth control and abortions. For example, a regulation implemented by the Iowa Board of Medicine requires a physician to be physically present when providing a medication abortion; therefore, affecting patients that live in rural area and can not go to the clinics. Such laws on reproductive health care, specifically birth control and abortions, are affecting the access and choices women have. Laws are created to protect rights and choices; therefore, these laws should be created with the intention of protecting women’s rights and choices not hindering them.

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) and its mandate regarding contraception has been the center of contention since the United States Supreme Court decided to go forward with the case in 2013. The initial mandate in question instructed establishments to include and or make available all forms of contraception. Additionally, the employee’s individual health care plan was to provide the contraception at no cost so as not to impose an additional burden. Then again, particular forms of birth control conflict with the beliefs of many of the for-profit corporations represented in the case. However, some corporations have voiced

Women have been using birth control methods for over thousands of years. Today, we have various effective birth control methods available to woman. Such as the pill, patch, shot, or IUD. Birth control is a safe way to prevent pregnancy. You can purchase birth control at your doctor’s office, planned parenthood, a clinic, or a public health care provider. They will first discuss your medical history with you, then check your blood pressure and finally you will discuss which birth control method is right for you, and they will send you on your way with your prescription. Birth control can be purchased at your local drugstore and costs up to 50 dollars. In a lot of cases though, young girls and even older women cannot afford or access these types of birth control. There are concerns about being unemployed which results in no income coming in for birth control, lack of health insurance the woman may have and whether or not the woman can afford having a child, even more during an economic crisis. By having women’s birth control free it will not only decrease the chances of abortion, help women financially , help with women’s menstrual cycle, and also by lowering the teen pregnancy rate, and having them have the power to decide when they want to have children. Many people can argue that the government shouldn’t have to provide another free service and that the cost

Under the Affordable Care Act’s (ACA) birth control benefit, all health plans must cover contraceptive methods and counseling for all women, as prescribed by a healthcare provider (The National Women’s Law Center, 2017). These services must be provided with no cost-sharing, such as out-of-pocket costs like deductibles, co-payments, and co-insurance provider (The National Women’s Law Center, 2017). The article, “Did Contraceptive Use Patterns Change After the Affordable Care Act?” presents interesting insight on the ACA’s effect on females’ contraceptive utilization (Bearak & Jones, 2017).

Many women take birth control not just to prevent unwanted pregnancy, but also to help treat medical problems. Kathryn C., from Princeton, West Virginia, is one of the thousands of women who take birth control for medical reasons. She shares her feelings to Planned Parenthood’s website, “...My birth control is the most expensive prescription I have to take, and it worries me that I might have to choose between a medicine I need for my health and other things I need like food, gas, and rent.” (Kathryn). There is a debate right now in our society about birth control coverage. Some people have beliefs that birth control should not be covered by insurance companies because it would cause religious conflict in the work environment, but others believe that insurance companies should fully cover the price of birth control because it has many health benefits for the consumers. Birth control should be covered by insurance companies.

Since the enactment of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), our health care system has undergone a transformation to be inclusive of every American’s health care needs. In particular, ACA has dramatically increased contraceptive coverage for women. Under the ACA’s contraceptive coverage guarantee, also known as contraceptive coverage mandate, all private health plans in the United States must cover at least one form of contraception in each of the of the 18 methods as identified in the Food and Drug Administration’s(FDA) Birth Control Guide for women (citation2). In addition, Insures most provided this coverage without copayments, deductibles, or out-of-pocket costs. Unfortunately, due to the wording of preventive care services in ACA legislation,

Statement of Issue: Health insurance coverage has been chronically problematic for the United States for decades. Conservatives and Liberals have continuously argued about the challenges that America’s healthcare system faces and how insurance and payments ought to be handled. The main issues concerning Americans include: cost, access, and quality of healthcare. Most citizens are provided health insurance through their employers.6 However, problems concerning birth control coverage through employers have sprouted; an example of a contraceptive case that has been evaluated would be Burwell v. Hobby Lobby in January, 2016.3 Without easy access to birth control millions of women will face numerous problems; for example:

A total of 730,322 abortions were reported from the Centers for Disease Control in 2011. This could easily be resolved with proper usage of birth control. But the fact of the matter is that only 62% of women are actually using proper birth control, now this may seem like a lot of women, but there is 158.6 million women in the United States alone so 58.5 million are currently not on any birth control which is a huge amount of women. Birth control needs to be free and accessible, because the benefits of having women on birth control easily outweigh any of the cons that may come. My goal for this paper is to talk about the pros of having free and accessible birth control, which would be lower abortion rate, lower teenage pregnancy rate, and the many health benefits. I will also touch on the opposing side of this argument, which will be that, it will be too expensive, that abstinence is key, and that if birth control became free and accessible women would no longer go the doctor.

Oral contraceptives have provided the world with great outcomes. Planned parenthood stated that birth control has “advanced women’s educational opportunities, led to more college-educated women pursuing advanced professional degrees, enhanced children’s well being in the long run, saved women money, reduced teen pregnancy, and reduced unwanted pregnancy” (“Birth Control” 1-3). The argument that birth control has done great things for society is obvious.

Specifically, we need to provide access to the most efficacious types of birth control, which also happen to be the most expensive – Long Acting Reversible Contraception (e.g., IUDs and subdermal implants), or LARCs. This, I feel is why birth control coverage is a necessity. As much as our society insists that condoms and pills are the most accessible and user-friendly, they’re not as effective as advertised in their actual use. In fact, the failure rate of condoms is closer to 18 percent whereas the pill is closer to 9 percent (…). Even if a condom is used perfectly 100% of the time there is still a 2% chance for unintended pregnancy. Compare this to LARCs, which boast a less than

Women in today’s society have never known a time when contraceptive options were not available to them. As a general statement, acquiring some sort of contraceptives whether it is the pill, patch, condom, emergency contraception, or another of the many types of birth control is not difficult with the many options available to women today. However, backtrack to the early 1900’s and the story was completely different. In 1916, Margaret Sanger made contraceptive history by opening the first birth control clinic in Brooklyn, New York. The fight for birth control began. It was not until years later in 1960 that the birth control pill was approved by the Food and Drug Administration and since then many other varieties of birth control have made their way into the market (Kim & Wasik, 2011). Today, thanks to those like Margaret Sanger who fought for contraceptives, women and couples who wish to avoid pregnancy have more choices than ever before. (Egarter et al, 2013; Perry, 2015).

Not to mention, the cost of birth control when not covered by insurance is extremely costly. Birth control should be free for women because most women cannot afford yearly birth control or their insurance will not cover it completely. Since there have been so many studies confirming how beneficial birth control is for a woman’s health, they should not have to pay such costly prices in order to prevent life changing illnesses.

Do you think birth control should be covered by health insurance? For a long duration of time, this has been a question that still remains up for discussion. Birth control is a widely known contraception, but many people are against it. Sixty two percent of the population of women uses contraception. 10.6 million women use this contraception, and as time goes on the number seems to increase. When used accurately, birth control prohibits pregnancy. Today, due to the Affordable Care Act, all private health plans are required to provide contraceptive coverage at no cost to patients. When congress passed the Affordable Care Act, it created major controversy. “Roman Catholic bishops and others have said the government is stepping on religious liberty by forcing Catholic institutions, such as hospitals, to include contraception in their employees' health insurance plans” (New Haven Register). Others say that people are denying the scientific facts and birth control should be covered by health insurance. Many people are asking, “Why is contraception still seen as

Health care and what people are legally allowed to do with their bodies have created controversy galore throughout history. A particular point of debate is the topic of birth control and the government. A dangerous couple, it raises the question of who should have control over contraceptive laws and what controls involving them should be put in place? Currently, under the Obama Administration, the Affordable Care Act and “Obamacare” have been created. One of the sections of this new plan creates a mandate which requires private businesses to provide insurance that covers birth control costs. The government should not be able to force businesses, and therefore the American people, to pay for birth control via health insurance because it