Free Birth Control Pill

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  • BeckiCharlotte13x
    BeckiCharlotte13x Posts: 259 Member
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    It seems so alien to me - living in the UK, to hear that people pay for their birth control...
  • dinosnopro
    dinosnopro Posts: 2,179 Member
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  • sammyjbray
    sammyjbray Posts: 146 Member
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    It seems so alien to me - living in the UK, to hear that people pay for their birth control...

    You're not wrong! I :heart: the NHS, despite the extra National Insurance contributions they made us start paying. Having to decide if you can afford healthcare is a really alien concept, and for such a big democratic country it sometimes seems odd you don't have a nationwide scheme so that everybody gets the same.

    EFS
  • cobracars
    cobracars Posts: 949 Member
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    If you think it's expensive now, wait until it's "free".....
    :drinker:

    Hahahahhaha! I like that one. Nothing in life is really free now, is it?
    Nope, just someone else paying the bills. I just 'love it' that MY cell phone bill includes a charge that goes to fund the free phones the government is handing out to the people who won't work for them. "The right to life, liberty, and the pursuit of happiness, along with a cell phone and free minutes..."
    What a country!
  • SyntonicGarden
    SyntonicGarden Posts: 944 Member
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    Depends upon how you define free. If you mean everyone else who pays taxes is paying for it so you don't have to, and you have the right coverage, then yeah I guess it's "free".

    I would glady pay taxes on this, because then there wouldn't be children pregnant with children.

    And there also wouldn't be people on welfare with 9 kids at walmart getting everything for free without having a job, just because they have 9 kids because they didn't feel like taking birth control or they couldn't afford it.

    She's got a good point. A lot of pills cost between $25 - $50 a month until they go off-patent and generics can be made. The average cost for a mom on Access to bring her toddler, with a fever and a runny nose, to the ER is in the hundreds and I can tell you for a fact that lots of people on assistance use the ER as primary care.

    And don't try explaining to her that she should go to CVS and pick up a $5 bottle of Tylenol to bring down the fever. That's money she's "entitled to" to spend on herself for things like her nails or clothes. "Why pay for the meds when Access will give it to you for free?" I realize that there ARE some people who use public assistance as a hand up, not hand out, but those people seem to be the exception some days. I've taught in this environment and have had my students tell me how things are.

    So, if it's easier for a woman to be in control of when she takes a pill than trying to get her guy to step up, (because if he was responsible, he'd pay for his kids and maybe she wouldn't be on assistance...) I'd much rather subsidize $25 a month than $1000 if I'm going to have to pay for it anyway.
  • cekeys
    cekeys Posts: 397 Member
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    It seems so alien to me - living in the UK, to hear that people pay for their birth control...

    I always want to know what that person's effective tax rate is when I hear Canadians or anyone in a country with socialized medicine talk about not paying for healthcare.

    That curiosity aside, you do need to check with your healthcare provider to find out which brands will be covered. Like any medicine, sometimes the name brands are covered at a certain amount, and the generics are covered under another. There are more kinds of birth control than I can count ( Combination, Progestin-only, Monophasic, biphasic, triphasic, quadraphasic, etc... not to mention all the different levels of hormones), and you need to work with your doctor to find the type that works for you and your lifestyle. Hopefully the one that's covered by your insurance provider is the one that works best for you (Doesn't effectively kill your "drive", doesn't make you gain weight, or any other numerous side effects). Bottom line, talk to your doctor, talk to your insurance provider and get all the information.

    I'd also like state this, in the case of birth control, the tax rate increase would not cover this, but an increase in insurance premiums would. The law dictated that the insurance companies had to cover them, but insurance companies are not charities and will adjust their actuarial tables accordingly and then up the premiums to cover their requirements.
  • sammyjbray
    sammyjbray Posts: 146 Member
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    It seems so alien to me - living in the UK, to hear that people pay for their birth control...

    I always want to know what that person's effective tax rate is when I hear Canadians or anyone in a country with socialized medicine talk about not paying for healthcare.


    33% ish
  • thetrishwarp
    thetrishwarp Posts: 838 Member
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    It seems so alien to me - living in the UK, to hear that people pay for their birth control...

    I always want to know what that person's effective tax rate is when I hear Canadians or anyone in a country with socialized medicine talk about not paying for healthcare.


    33% ish

    Yeah, I was going to say around 40% depending on your tax bracket. But that's not just health care.

    And I keep getting tax rebates in the mail so I'm happy :)
  • MENichols5
    MENichols5 Posts: 176 Member
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    free??? you mean tax payers paying for it (and higher insurance premiums, therefore you are still technically paying for it).

    If you think making birth control free is going to reduce the amount of teen pregnancies and so forth, then you will probably be surprised. Condoms are not that expensive and yet they are not using those. They are not getting pregnant because they can't afford birth control, they are getting pregnant because they are irresponsible and having unprotected sex. Giving out "free" birth control isn't going to make them any more responsible.

    As a tax pay and a woman who uses birth control (I spend $60 a month on the nuvaring), I believe it's up to the people to either buy their own condoms or birth control. Birth control can cost as little as $10 dollars a month, I am pretty sure most people can "splurge" on this if they are sexually active.
  • rachey_v
    rachey_v Posts: 127 Member
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    It seems so alien to me - living in the UK, to hear that people pay for their birth control...



    This!!

    Still doesn't stop all the teen pregnancies over here though :frown:

    Contraception isn't just contraception, it is also used medically, it's usually the first thing a GP will prescribe in this country if you have problems with your periods (After all the usual anti inflammatories that is) You have no hope of seeing a Gynae without doing what the GP says!!

    I'm feeling extremely lucky to have the NHS even though people are constantly complaining about it!
  • HamsterNut
    HamsterNut Posts: 78 Member
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    Having read most of this and coming from a country where birth control is "free" I thought id comment. By free I mean paid for by taxes and stuff like the entire national health service is here.

    Anyone even under 16 to 25 can get contraception for free in the UK by visiting anonymous clinics or teenage help centres, over 25s have to visit a GP or a clinic, that is any pill that suits, condoms, implants, patches, injections, coils etc. It does not stop scruffs popping out children yearly and getting free houses and living off welfare, there is also a lot of teen pregnancies here, especially in deprived areas im 20 half the people I went to school with have 1,2 or 3 kids already! STD rates in teens are high too, despite being able to convieniently get around 20 condoms a week, they just dont bother.

    I do however think everyone should be able to access birth control.

    I have no problem with the UK system of high tax to fund the healthservice as a slow service (just waited 5 weeks to get a 15 minute GP appointment) that just does the job is avaiable to everyone regardless of their income or background, private healthcare is available as a luxury to those who can afford it. I do have a problem with my taxes being used for dole bums (the work shy- they never ever intend of working) of which there are many here, though those who genuinely cant work/cant find work should be helped more but this is getting a bit politcal :-)
  • bathsheba_c
    bathsheba_c Posts: 1,873 Member
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    I don't understand why people think insurance shouldn't cover my medications that prevent infertility and severe monthly pain and bleeding just because it can be used to prevent pregnancy, too.
  • cekeys
    cekeys Posts: 397 Member
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    It seems so alien to me - living in the UK, to hear that people pay for their birth control...

    I always want to know what that person's effective tax rate is when I hear Canadians or anyone in a country with socialized medicine talk about not paying for healthcare.


    33% ish

    Yeah, I was going to say around 40% depending on your tax bracket. But that's not just health care.

    And I keep getting tax rebates in the mail so I'm happy :)

    Thanks for the info. I'm checking my paycheck and my withholdings are 13% and my insurance premium costs are another 13% of my pay, so that's about 26%, I checked my previous job's paychecks, and it was around 28% total. I've always carried insurance.
  • DelilahCat0212
    DelilahCat0212 Posts: 282 Member
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    I think they get some kind of secondary higher education with that 40% tax rate too, don't they? Imagine that!

    Anyway, so many here have it wrong it is not even funny. YOU are not paying for MY birth control. I pay my insurance premiums, you do not. They are not going to set up roadside stands and start handing out free pills to whoever wants them. It's for those who already have insurance!!!! And those that already have insurance are already paying the premiums!!! WE ARE PAYING, NOT YOU.
  • BeckiCharlotte13x
    BeckiCharlotte13x Posts: 259 Member
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    Yes, of course we are still paying for it and in the case of birth control, which doesn't cost THAT much in comparison to major operations etc. If we need major operations, we won't have paid £20,000 in tax for it.

    So as far as 'free' goes. It is pretty much free.
  • RDalton84
    RDalton84 Posts: 207
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    Depends upon how you define free. If you mean everyone else who pays taxes is paying for it so you don't have to, and you have the right coverage, then yeah I guess it's "free".

    This!! I have always paid for my own birth control, never expected anyone else to pick up the tab for me, even when I lost my job and my insurance. My birth control, my responsibility.
  • BeckiCharlotte13x
    BeckiCharlotte13x Posts: 259 Member
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    As previously stated, we ALL pay our tax, which entitles ALL to free healthcare, unless you choose to go private. Nobody is paying for MY birth control, and I am not paying for anyone else's. We all pay for the service!
  • livinginwoods
    livinginwoods Posts: 562 Member
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    Depends upon how you define free. If you mean everyone else who pays taxes is paying for it so you don't have to, and you have the right coverage, then yeah I guess it's "free".

    I would glady pay taxes on this, because then there wouldn't be children pregnant with children.

    And there also wouldn't be people on welfare with 9 kids at walmart getting everything for free without having a job, just because they have 9 kids because they didn't feel like taking birth control or they couldn't afford it.

    If they are on welfare they have options to have free BC. I don't want to pay for someone else to have BC. If you want to have sex pay for it yourself.
  • BeckiCharlotte13x
    BeckiCharlotte13x Posts: 259 Member
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    Free birth control does not mean people will not get pregnant...

    The uk, has free birth control and yet we have one of the highest teenage pregnancy rates.
  • livinginwoods
    livinginwoods Posts: 562 Member
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    As previously stated, we ALL pay our tax, which entitles ALL to free healthcare, unless you choose to go private. Nobody is paying for MY birth control, and I am not paying for anyone else's. We all pay for the service!

    Many Americans get Tax Refunds and don't pay the taxes that go for free healthcare.

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