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Does your insurance cover your birth control? If not, what's the cost of it?

Z Y G G Y

Z Y G G Y

Bluelighter
Joined
Apr 10, 2009
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American Suburbia
A lot of ladies here on BL are on BC. I want to know how you fund your BC? Do you pay out of pocket, does state/gov't pay for it, does insurance cover it?

So please, please, please:<3:

  1. State what form of BC you use, starting with current or most recent one
  2. How much does it cost? State whether its monthly or a one time fee or etc.
  3. State how it is funded...whether by you or some other source.
  4. Do this for all the BC methods you have used through out your life that you remember. Or whichever ones you feel like sharing. Do as much or as little as u want.
  5. What is your favorite BC method and why do you currently use the one u use?



If your source of payment is an insurance company please state its name and the plan you have and any special benefits you are getting or paying for.

I hope this is the right place for this thread. I thought about healthy Living, but BC has more to do with sex than anything else.
I also hope that this thread is different enough to warrant its own space. I am mostly interested in the current state of BC. I know there is tons of info on BC already, but there isn't much on what the cost of its is now, how its covered and etc topics.

_____________________________________________________________
Background info:

I am currently pregnant, mainly due to not being careful enough with contraception. I have been pregnancy free for so long I got a little careless. Didn't think I am that fertile to get pregnant on one load of sperm. Don't know what I was thinking, but once I found out I was pregnant I didn't want to get an abortion. It just didn't feel right even though I am not against it. I was planning on being childless...so this totally changed my life plans. For some reason I am happy and can't wait to see this little baby. I like being pregnant and the pregnancy hormones are having a really good effect on my mind and body.

But, here is the point of this thread. After giving birth...around August 20th is my due date...I am going to take BC much more seriously. I want more info on prices of BC. And since I know lots of ladies here on BC I wanted to make this thread for myself and others who might need this info.

Thanks. I am sure there is lots of similar info online, but I want to know the current prices of BC and how women today are funding their BC. whether insurance companies are slashing payments or whether the gov't is providing some help.
 
Zyggy, while this is a good thread to have here, keep in mind that contraception prices defer state to state, pharmacy to pharmacy, etc. :)

Though, to answer your questions, I have a Paragard IUD, which I have had for almost 2 years (August). I paid for it out of pocket, which was about $300. I had it put in at Planned Parenthood because I trust them. I have state funded medical coverage, but it took me so long to get PP to put it in that I wanted them to do it. With my medical coverage, I have to go to specific clinics that do not include PP.

As far as going back to all of the BC I have been on, I was put on the pill when I was 15 and went off of it when I was 27. If memory serves, when I had actual health insurance, it cost me about $20 a month. I paid approximately the same price when I didn't have health insurance through Planned Parenthood, but it depended on which pill I was on.

You could consider getting an IUD immediately after pregnancy, if that's something you're interested in. I know Mariposa started a thread telling her story about getting hers, which I shared my story of getting mine. :)

While I have had my issues with my IUD, I'm glad I decided to get it, and waiting out the issues was well worth it. :)

------------------------
My IUD Story: battle fought and won! (Mariposa and others)
A story of obtaining and inserting an IUD! (fairynymph)
7 week period w/ IUD (RR)
 
I need to sign up for insurance. My ex just dropped me, but at the time it cost me $30 (BCBS) and $60 regularly without insurance. It's Nuvaring...I can't take the pills. They make me sick.

I plan to sign up through school. It's $500 for the semester and I believe it's only $10 with them. My school actually has great insurance coverage.
 
State what form of BC you use, starting with current or most recent one

I'm on NuvaRing, and I have also been on just about every kind of the pill in the past.

How much does it cost? State whether its monthly or a one time fee or etc.

I get mine for free or reduced cost at Planned Parenthood because it's actually cheaper than through my insurance. With my insurance it's about 30 a month I think.

State how it is funded...whether by you or some other source.

I pay out of pocket at Planned Parenthood. It's very cheap. With my insurance, I have around a $500 a month payment plus copays.

What is your favorite BC method and why do you currently use the one u use?

I LOOOOVE the NuvaRing. It's so easy to use and very mild on the body. I'll be getting an IUD in a few weeks though (Mirena), just because it's that much easier and with that much less room for error.
 
In the UK contraceptives are free to all via the National Health Service, same with smear tests etc.

1. State what form of BC you use, starting with current or most recent one - I'm currently using a Mirena IUS. 18 months now, took over a year for my body to accept and adjust to it.

2. How much does it cost? State whether its monthly or a one time fee or etc. - Free

3. State how it is funded...whether by you or some other source. - I pay tax on my income and national insurance contributions. But even if you're unemployed it's free for everyone.

4. Do this for all the BC methods you have used through out your life that you remember. Or whichever ones you feel like sharing. Do as much or as little as u want. - I've used various contraceptive pills and condoms before this coil.

5. What is your favorite BC method and why do you currently use the one u use? - I've always had various side-effects from the pill. I've never liked condoms, but unless you know you and your partner are clear of STDs etc they are crucial. Because of my age (44) and I'm in a LTR my doctor suggested the Mirena. I have no wish to have any more children but am not prepared at this point to be sterilised.

The Mirena has been quite a trial but it's finally settling down (yeh!), it's very easy - once it's inserted it there for 3 years, and about 99.5% effective against unwanted pregnancies.

We are lucky in the UK to be able to access family planning for free, the services offered are flexible and easy to use. However, we still have a frighteningly high level of unwanted pregnancies here, especially amongst the young...which makes you wonder why :\
 
The only form of BC I've ever used is the Pill, I've been on it for almost 3 years now (I'm 21). I like it I guess, I don't really have anything to compare it to, but it keeps me baby-free and hasn't caused any noticeable mood or physical changes. The brand I use is called Kariva, it's generic for something but it's a combination of desogestrel/ethinyl estradiol and ethinyl estradiol.

My mom gets pretty awesome health insurance through the company she works for (big oil and gas firm) so I get my pills in packs of 3 (3 months at a time) for $15, and they just bill it to my house. My mom is the one that pays the bill but realistically it's so inexpensive that I could/should pay for it.

I have thought about getting the Nuva Ring or an IUD, but the Nuva Ring freaks my boyfriend out and my doctor won't give me an IUD since my plans with my current partner aren't "long term" enough for her - which I think is sort of bullshit but whatever, the pill works fine for me.

Overall, I like the pill. I've never had any pregnancy scares, it's cheap as well as effective.
 
[*]State what form of BC you use, starting with current or most recent one
A combination of Orthotricyclen and the "pulling out" method [just to be extra safe]. I would never stop taking the pill and depend on that method 100% though as women become pregnant all the time when they rely on nothing but pulling out.

[*]How much does it cost? State whether its monthly or a one time fee or etc.
Approximately $3.00 per month.

[*]State how it is funded...whether by you or some other source.
I have government insurance and all of my prescriptions cost about $3 each.

[*]What is your favorite BC method and why do you currently use the one u use?
Well, I've only ever used the pill so I don't have anything to compare it too really but I wanna get the implant that lasts for up to five years so I have one less pill to take every day. I already have to take enough medicine [for epilepsy] as it is so I try to keep the prescription drugs to a minimum as I'm not a fan of taking tons of pills every day. Anyway, I use the pill because it's cheap and it works really well. Like I said earlier, I also have my s.o. pull out on top of that as an extra measure or whatever.
 
User Name Here said:
...and the "pulling out" method [just to be extra safe].
Click to expand...

i've heard other women say this, but i never understood it. i find it hard to believe withdrawing is any more or less effective against conception. i think all you're doing is needlessly making your partner finish outside. if you're birth control pills are failing, it's very unlikely withdrawal-method is going to prevent you from conceiving. fwiw, being on BCP for 11 years, taking it religiously and allowing my partner to finish inside, i've never, ever had a pregnancy scare. ...obviously, if it makes you feel more comfortable to do it, then do it. i just don't think it's really helping matters much in the long-run. just my thoughts :\


congrats on the bun Z Y G G Y!! <3

State what form of BC you use, starting with current or most recent one
i was using Seasonique up until about 2 months ago. i had been on Seasonale since it came out in 2002 or 2003 and a few years ago i switched to the lower dose Seasoniqe. they now offer LoSEASONIQUE™, which is even lower hormone.

i stopped taking BCP due to a complication i had from a surgery and my doctor and i determined it was best to be natural for awhile. but even after 2 months, i really, really miss it.

the beauty of Seasonique is that it allows you to have 4 periods a year, which was wonderful. and the periods i did have, lasted *maybe* a day. they were extremely light and i only ever needed a panty-liner or two for the whole duration. it is so weird buying feminine products again; i'd forgotten how expensive that shit was!

How much does it cost? State whether its monthly or a one time fee or etc.
State how it is funded...whether by you or some other source.
i live in Arizona and i paid for it with cash. each pill pack contains 3 months worth of pills. my insurance, Blue Cross Blue Shield of Arizona, does not cover birth control (the bastards! :X). the cost is about $200 per 3 months.

thankfully though, Seasonique has online offers and you can register and get $50 - $25 knocked off your total. plus, i have a discount through the grocery store/pharmacy i go to. i paid anywhere between $130-$160 on average. also, every time i go to my OB/GYN, i tell them my insurance doesn't cover it and they usually give me several samples (last time, i got 4 packs which was a whole year for free).

What is your favorite BC method and why do you currently use the one u use?
i've only ever used BCP and condoms. i love BCP. i've never had any horrible side-effects i've heard some women have had and like the idea of having unprotected (condomless) sex when monogamous.

during my last OB/GYN appointment, i asked about Mirena, but due to a bit of a botched surgical procedure and the complication that occurred, i am not a candidate for IUD. :(
 
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FuturePig said:
i've heard other women say this, but i never understood it. i find it hard to believe withdrawing is any more or less effective against conception. i think all you're doing is needlessly making your partner finish outside. if you're birth control pills are failing, it's very unlikely withdrawal-method is going to prevent you from conceiving. fwiw, being on BCP for 11 years, taking it religiously and allowing my partner to finish inside, i've never, ever had a pregnancy scare. ...obviously, if it makes you feel more comfortable to do it, then do it. i just don't think it's really helping matters much in the long-run. just my thoughts :\
Click to expand...
If there is no sperm in you, you can't get pregnant. If there are fewer sperm in you, you are less likely to have an egg fertilized. Plain and simple - if you don't want babies, you need to minimize the ability of sperm to get to an egg, and anything you do to minimize that possibility will minimize the risk of pregnancy. However effective or ineffective withdrawal may be, it does reduce risk, so it's just as effective at reducing risk in combination with other forms of birth control. It's not a fool-proof method by any means, but it's no different than when I was younger and on birth control and still made my boyfriend of 4 years use condoms. I simply wanted to minimize my risk of getting pregnant to the greatest degree possible because a baby would have ruined my world. Now that I'm 25 and on birth control in a committed relationship, withdrawal is good enough because a baby wouldn't be the end of the universe - I don't want one right now, but it would be completely deal-with-able - and the tradeoff of not using condoms is reasonable to me in terms of increased percentage risk of pregnancy. At the end of the day, two forms of birth control is better than one... It's great that you have never had a pregnancy scare, but I know more than one girl that got pregnant on the pill, even when they were taking it at the exact same time every day. Biology is complicated as hell, unfortunately, and babies are a pretty big "mistake" to make. Even when used exactly right, the pill isn't 100%, so if you have sex enough times, you could get pregnant. I know that I'm likely going to be hyperfertile like my grandma or nearly infertile like my mom, and I don't want to find out the hard way that it's the first one!!! lol
 
i'm sure i'm enlightening you none, smarty pants, ;) but just trying to expound on my initial thoughts... in addition to other changes to prevent pregnancy, when used properly BCPs stop ovulation, meaning there's no egg to fertilize. it doesn't matter how much semen is inside you if you're taking you birth control correctly and it's working effectively... which is 99.9% of the time.

i understand you know some women who fell pregnant while using birth control pills, but if there's that much of a concern, i just feel like something much more effective (and less sadistic than forcing your guy to stop and finish elsewhere) like a condom or even spermicidal lube should be used.

maybe i've got the wrong idea, and maybe some guys really don't mind, but it seems like the withdrawal-method would really suck for the dude*. and, if it's a major concern of yours because you don't trust your BC, you're not really doing yourself (or him) any favors by relying on him to pull out in time when you know he's feeling REALLY good doing what he's doing. additionally, how many men or women do you know that are using "coitus interruptus" correctly or even know there's a right way to do it than just pulling out prior to climax?

we are all aware that it takes only one strong swimmer to knock a lady up and that swimmer could have easily been set loose either in pre-ejaculate or your guy might've waited a little too long or should some of his "seed" have been "spilt" on or around your lady-bits, you can accidently push some semen inside after intercourse (e.g. peeing and then wiping after sex).

maybe i've convinced myself this behavior (allowing my partner to cum inside me while protected by BCP) isn't so risky, but my thoughts are: if my birth control pill is failing, the withdrawal-method isn't going to stop me from getting knocked-up. but with experience, i know i am of the lucky 99.9% of women who effectively uses BCP and because i trust that it works, i don't see any benefit from having my partner withdrawal.

again, these are personal feelings on the matter, and if it makes someone feel more comfortable and safer to use withdrawal-method as an extra little precaution, of course, do it. but, for me, i don't because i think it's unnecessary.


*perhaps that would be a good poll question for the gentlemen: if your lady is on birth control, but she insisted on a back-up method would you prefer to withdrawal before climax or use a condom and finish inside?
 
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State what form of BC you use, starting with current or most recent one

I have the PARAGARD, though I have been on most hormonal options in the past.

How much does it cost? State whether its monthly or a one time fee or etc.

I had insurance at the time my IUD was inserted, so it was just a 25 dollar doctor's visit copay!

State how it is funded...whether by you or some other source.

My insurance, or to be technical, since I'm a student, my parents' insurance.

What is your favorite BC method and why do you currently use the one u use?

I ADORE MY PARAGARD! I love being on my natural rhythm again, not having horrible mood swings, and NOT PAYING MORE $ every month. It's so awesome to be totally in control of my fertility without hormones for up to twelve years... which is a REAL BARGAIN considering what I paid!
 
[*]State what form of BC you use, starting with current or most recent one... I am on the IUD Mirena

[*]How much does it cost? State whether its monthly or a one time fee or etc. One time fee of 350 and that was with insurance paying 75%!(BlueCrossBlueShield)

[*]State how it is funded...whether by you or some other source. I could not afford it through my insurance so I went to a free clinic and got it for free

[*]Do this for all the BC methods you have used through out your life that you remember. Or whichever ones you feel like sharing. Do as much or as little as u want..I was also on OrthoTrycyclen for a while to regulate my period. It was from a free clinic as well

[*]What is your favorite BC method and why do you currently use the one u use? The Mirena by far because they implant it into your uterus and it lasts for five years and there is nothing to worry about forgetting. I love it and my period has about vanished(coming from a girl who's periods were very very heavy and lasted about 7-10 days) I will say I now on an occasion get next to excruciating cramps but that is the only negative thing I have to say about the Mirena.
 
Every year the cost went up. I started paying $35 with insurance for the ring. After I lost insurance, I was paying $80, I believe.
 
My mom changed our health insurance a while back so my days of $5 a month birth control are over. Our family's deductible is $4,000, which we didn't reach last year until about December 27th, so I pay 100% out of pocket for my prescriptions - thankfully, BC is my only one. I now pay $40 a month for pack, which is ridiculous but I don't really have any other choice.

I've looked into the $4 generic program, but there's only one BC and it's more than 3X the amount of hormones I'm currently taking, and I'm not nuts about the idea of jacking myself up on them.

I've also looked into getting an IUD but the reviews I've read online about cramps and possible other side effects scared me out of it.
 
I take Tri-Cyclen Lo.
I pay about $80 for three months worth of it.
I don't get government funding or anything. Not health insurance or anything anymore :(. I pay out of my pocket.

I used to be on Alesse, but that was when I had insurance through my parents cuz I was a student. I paid like $4 for three months worth. Then the insurance changed and I paid $10 for three months worth. Pretty good deal.

Tri-cyclen Lo is my favourite. I'm not as moody on it. It doesn't have as many hormones as Alesse and other brands but it works just as well.

Edit: Amounts in Cad $, I'm from Ontario :)
 
IUD in 2010 in my state cost about $600. My insurance covered it.

For 4 months I bit the bullet and had very painful periods. I knew it would pass. Now I am forever grateful I did that. It has caused me no problems. (Paragard, non-hormonal type.)
 
I have private health insurance. they cover pills, comes to about $40/month, but I stopped with the pill and got Paraguard. I hape to pay $700 upfront, then my insurance reimbursed me. I ended up only paying $50.

Love not having any hormones. I do find that the strings sometimes "poke" my husband though. So we either A-stop and push the string further up into my cervix or B- I cut a sea sponge tampon really small, and use it as a cusion so he can't feel it. Depends on the time of the month though, when my cervix is either higher or lower.
 
Reading all these posts about having to get insurance reminds me how lucky we are to have medicare in Australia, I don't know how I would manage without it, anything over $10 a month for BC just seems insane to me!
That being said, the pill I am on now - Estelle, generic brand of Diane - isn't covered by the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme, but it's still only AUD$20 for three months.
Previously I was on Levlen for 3 or 4 years, and Tri-phasil for a year before that, which were both only roughly AUD$5 for four packs, so just over a dollar a month! But the progestrigen in those two pills was making my skin terrible, which is why I ended up having to switch to Estelle.
And I just pay in cash, no insurance needed :D
 
Fawkes said:
i've heard other women say this, but i never understood it. i find it hard to believe withdrawing is any more or less effective against conception. i think all you're doing is needlessly making your partner finish outside. if you're birth control pills are failing, it's very unlikely withdrawal-method is going to prevent you from conceiving. fwiw, being on BCP for 11 years, taking it religiously and allowing my partner to finish inside, i've never, ever had a pregnancy scare. ...obviously, if it makes you feel more comfortable to do it, then do it. i just don't think it's really helping matters much in the long-run. just my thoughts :\
Click to expand...

I was baby conceived while my mother and father were using multiple forms of birth control. Neither the birth control pills or condom prevented me from being born. I said fuck it to them both and dove in head first. The little sperm that could. Not that this happens very often at all, but for shits and giggles (and just show nothings full proof) I tell people the fact that I was still born even after unfavorable circumstances during conception. (When I got caught giving oral sex to a GF in HS my mom flipped a bitch, more than you'd think. I later realized it wasn't completely unwarranted, even though it was oral sex, because pregnancy can happen even if precautions are used). I know I can't really contribute to this thread being as they don't have birth control for guys, but I thought I'd mention my story since it kinda relates. I also can understand why anyone who feels they really wouldn't be ready for a pregnancy at a given moment (not just wouldn't want one now, but really shouldn't have kids) to do anything extra to make sure pregnancy doesn't come around. When I have sex usually the girl is majority of the time on the pill and I still elect to use a condom, even though condoms are not ideal for maximum pleasure. I'm not sure what the likely hood of someone who was a birth control/condom baby, conceiving a baby with someone who's on birth control (or using multiple forms of birth control), but I still like to be cautious because I'm living proof that shit happens.
 
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