May 06 2013
HuffPost: Cost Of Birth Control Higher In Some Low-Income Neighborhoods Than In Wealthy Ones
Prescription contraceptives cost more in some low-income neighborhoods than in wealthier ones, according to a small study that analyzed prescription price data from Florida.
Though the findings are preliminary, the University of Tennessee physicians who led the study said it may have implications for low-income women hoping to prevent pregnancy.
“We saw several contraceptive options that are more expensive in lower income areas, and that expense may limit access,” researcher Dr. Nikki Zite, an OBGYN at The University of Tennessee Medical Center, told The Huffington Post. The findings were released Monday at the American Congress of Obstetricians and Gynecologists’ annual clinical meeting in New Orleans.
The cost data came from MyFloridaRx.com, a website developed by the Florida attorney general and the state Agency for Health Care Administration to provide pricing information on the 150 most commonly used prescription drugs in the the state. The site provides the prices that an uninsured consumer with no federal discount or supplemental plan would typically pay, as reported monthly by pharmacies.
Researchers focused on the price of seven commonly-used contraceptives — including various forms of the pill as well as transvaginal options like the ring. They cross-referenced the price information across various counties with median household incomes from the 2010 census.
Nearly every prescription contraceptive was more expensive in low-income zip codes, the researchers found.
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