stumblinggoat: abaldwin360: stumblinggoat: abaldwin360: stumblinggoat: abaldwin360: I love how the narrative has suddenly turned it into “my tax dollars are paying for you to have sex.” No. Insurance has to cover birth control without a co-pay. This is a big reason I get so frustrated with conservatives, they are always twisting shit around like this. I don’t agree with this no copay for birth control crap. Supposedly, by the first of next year, insurances are going to cover birth controls for free for the patient. Yes, I think contraceptives are great medications. They are indicated for so many conditions and really improve the lives of some women. But why is it that birth control is going to be free, while I see people come through my pharmacy constantly who are struggling to pay hundreds and hundreds of dollars a month for their life saving medications? Whether it’s a cancer patient paying 300 dollars a month for pain medications so they can live a somewhat more comfortable life, or a diabetic paying 500 dollars a month for their insulin. (Yeah, it really costs that much for a lot of people). The money the insurance companies lose from the copays of birth control will be made up somewhere, which means higher copays on other medications. I don’t see the point. You do realize that easier access to birth control = less unwanted children = lower premiums over all because paying for birth control is a lot cheaper than paying for a hospital stay for the child being born, plus early care for said child and then adding that child to insurance and covering all their medications/doctor visits. That would be one of the points. Also, read this. I honestly do not think that forcing insurance companies to set a 0$ copay on birth controls is going to affect how many women chose to take it. Access to free contraceptives is already relatively easy through organizations such as Planned Parenthood. Besides that, most insurers already offer low copays on generic contraceptives. My point is that women who want to be on birth control, are most likely already taking it. All that lowering copays to 0$ is going to do is increase the cost of other medications. And generally, health insurance companies sub-contract their pharmacy coverage to other providers such as Medco. Medco and other pharmacy providers set the price of their copays and what they choose to reimburse, not the health insurance companies themselves. It’s these providers that will bear the brunt of the price drop, not the health insurance companies. They are going to make that up by raising the copays of other medications. And regarding the article, my point from before stands. I get it. Women work for their health insurance. I do believe that birth control should be covered, for a standard copay. What makes the women who want birth control any more special than the diabetic who works two jobs, solely so they can afford their life saving insulin and the various other medications commonly taken by patients with diabetes? Birth control shouldn’t be any different than other medications. By the authors logic, anyone who works for a living, using hours of their own lives working to obtain health insurance, should all obtain their medications for free. I just don’t see why birth control has a special place in this while others continue to bust their ass working 2 or more jobs to make sure they can afford their medications. I see people constantly who come into the pharmacy literally digging through their wallets trying to get just enough money to pay for their medications, or even begging us to let them have just a couple pills until they get paid and can afford the whole prescription. It makes no sense to give women who want birth control a free break. So, by your logic, I shouldn’t have gotten my beta-blockers for no co-pay when I was on insurance. Or my antibiotics, or the pain pills that I got after I had a tumor removed from my skull, or any number of other medications I got for 0 co-pay when I had medical insurance. What makes them so special?  Also, to cite your insulin example, there are laws in place concerning coverage of diabetics, though they vary from state to state. Do you genuinely not understand what I said, or are you just good at twisting words around? I’m not saying that you shouldn’t have gotten them for a 0$ copay. If your insurance plan dictates that you don’t have a copay on the medications you received, than by all means, congratulations. What I’m saying is that women should not be “entitled” to free birth control anymore than anyone else should be entitled to their medications. The diabetic example was just that, an example. The high cost of medications extends far beyond diabetics. Whether it’s transplant patients paying for immunosuppressants, cancer patients paying for high cost narcotic pain relievers, or patients with psychiatric disorders who have to pay for their medications. Women should not be entitled to free birth control anymore than any other patient to their medications, whatever they may be. “Entitled”? Really?  I fully understand what you are saying now. :)

stumblinggoat:

abaldwin360:

stumblinggoat:

abaldwin360:

stumblinggoat:

abaldwin360:

I love how the narrative has suddenly turned it into “my tax dollars are paying for you to have sex.”

No. Insurance has to cover birth control without a co-pay.

This is a big reason I get so frustrated with conservatives, they are always twisting shit around like this.

I don’t agree with this no copay for birth control crap. Supposedly, by the first of next year, insurances are going to cover birth controls for free for the patient. Yes, I think contraceptives are great medications. They are indicated for so many conditions and really improve the lives of some women. But why is it that birth control is going to be free, while I see people come through my pharmacy constantly who are struggling to pay hundreds and hundreds of dollars a month for their life saving medications? Whether it’s a cancer patient paying 300 dollars a month for pain medications so they can live a somewhat more comfortable life, or a diabetic paying 500 dollars a month for their insulin. (Yeah, it really costs that much for a lot of people). The money the insurance companies lose from the copays of birth control will be made up somewhere, which means higher copays on other medications. I don’t see the point.

You do realize that easier access to birth control = less unwanted children = lower premiums over all because paying for birth control is a lot cheaper than paying for a hospital stay for the child being born, plus early care for said child and then adding that child to insurance and covering all their medications/doctor visits.

That would be one of the points.

Also, read this.


I honestly do not think that forcing insurance companies to set a 0$ copay on birth controls is going to affect how many women chose to take it. Access to free contraceptives is already relatively easy through organizations such as Planned Parenthood. Besides that, most insurers already offer low copays on generic contraceptives. My point is that women who want to be on birth control, are most likely already taking it. All that lowering copays to 0$ is going to do is increase the cost of other medications. And generally, health insurance companies sub-contract their pharmacy coverage to other providers such as Medco. Medco and other pharmacy providers set the price of their copays and what they choose to reimburse, not the health insurance companies themselves. It’s these providers that will bear the brunt of the price drop, not the health insurance companies. They are going to make that up by raising the copays of other medications.

And regarding the article, my point from before stands. I get it. Women work for their health insurance. I do believe that birth control should be covered, for a standard copay. What makes the women who want birth control any more special than the diabetic who works two jobs, solely so they can afford their life saving insulin and the various other medications commonly taken by patients with diabetes? Birth control shouldn’t be any different than other medications. By the authors logic, anyone who works for a living, using hours of their own lives working to obtain health insurance, should all obtain their medications for free. I just don’t see why birth control has a special place in this while others continue to bust their ass working 2 or more jobs to make sure they can afford their medications. I see people constantly who come into the pharmacy literally digging through their wallets trying to get just enough money to pay for their medications, or even begging us to let them have just a couple pills until they get paid and can afford the whole prescription. It makes no sense to give women who want birth control a free break.

So, by your logic, I shouldn’t have gotten my beta-blockers for no co-pay when I was on insurance.

Or my antibiotics, or the pain pills that I got after I had a tumor removed from my skull, or any number of other medications I got for 0 co-pay when I had medical insurance.

What makes them so special? 

Also, to cite your insulin example, there are laws in place concerning coverage of diabetics, though they vary from state to state.

Do you genuinely not understand what I said, or are you just good at twisting words around? I’m not saying that you shouldn’t have gotten them for a 0$ copay. If your insurance plan dictates that you don’t have a copay on the medications you received, than by all means, congratulations. What I’m saying is that women should not be “entitled” to free birth control anymore than anyone else should be entitled to their medications. The diabetic example was just that, an example. The high cost of medications extends far beyond diabetics. Whether it’s transplant patients paying for immunosuppressants, cancer patients paying for high cost narcotic pain relievers, or patients with psychiatric disorders who have to pay for their medications. Women should not be entitled to free birth control anymore than any other patient to their medications, whatever they may be.

“Entitled”? Really? 

I fully understand what you are saying now. :)