Most privately insured women and paid high deductibles would have to incur a few hundred dollars more if they wanted Long lasting birth control. This is no longer the case.
The Affordable Care Act (ACA) was passed in 2013 with a provision for free contraception. This allowed women with high deductible insurance plans to get long-lasting birth control with no additional charges.
Huge savings
Nearly every woman in the developed world has used contraception at some point in her life. According to the National Women’s Law Center, over 60 million women have insurance packages that allow them to take long-term contraception. These are 60 million women who would have otherwise spent hundreds of dollars on contraception but can now get it for free.
A rough estimate by the NWLC shows that each woman saves around $250 annually with this law. This translates to about $15 billion that remains in women’s pockets every year. Of course, these figures assume that all the women with high deductible insurance plans will take contraception, but the figures are still impressive.
More women opt for long acting reversible contraception
With the passing of ACA, sales of morning after pills plummeted. Women who were already interested in getting contraception and had a high deductible private insurance plan opted for long-acting contraception.
As of 2014, two in every three women who used oral and vaginal contraception are reported to have used insurance instead of out-of-pocket payments. ACA provides for private insurers to cover 18 contraception methods used by women.
In a different survey in 2014, out-of-pocket payments for contraceptives accounted for less than 4% of women’s health expenditure. This huge decrease from before ACA was implemented when out-of-pocket contraception took a generous 20% of women’s health expenditure.
Women who use long term contraception under ACA report more financial freedom with more money in their pockets to cater to other needs. Long term contraception also promotes safe contraception practices with less risks.