How much does contraception cost with insurance?
People with insurance are in luck. With insurance, contraception costs nothing. That’s right. The Obama administration’s Affordable Care Act (ACA) mandates all health insurance plans to cover women’s contraception, including surgery, and not charge copays for doctor visits or prescribed birth control. Insurance doesn’t have to cover all brands of drugs or devices, but at least one option is covered in every category of birth control except contraceptives.
Costs of birth control without insurance
How to get discounted or free birth control
Nine ways to get discounts or free birth control.
SingleCare
First, patients with or without insurance can rely on SingleCare for all their prescription drugs. These coupons are free, reusable and easy to use. SingleCare coupons can reduce the price of prescribed contraceptives by up to 80%.
Go general
Most birth control methods have generic and brand-name options. As with most medications, brand-name birth control can cost more than generic versions. Always ask your doctor if they can prescribe a generic birth control instead of a brand name.
Request 90 days of benefits
Buying in bulk can save pharmacy customers a lot of money in the long run. The cost of 90-day birth control may be higher at checkout, but you can save on the cost of multiple copies by filling smaller prescriptions more often.
Health insurance
Even the cheapest insurance plan reduces the out-of-pocket cost of birth control to $0. This includes a visit to the doctor and the birth control medication or the device itself.
Health insurance is an option worth exploring. Depending on your income, some or all of the fees you pay may be refunded to you as a tax credit. Free health insurance with no copays means access to free birth control.
Medicaid
Medicaid health benefits are available to low-income seniors, the disabled, pregnant women, or families with children under 18. Fees are low or completely waived. Medicaid contraceptive coverage includes free birth control.
340B health organizations
340B hospitals, clinics, and other safety net health care providers may purchase drugs, including birth control pills, at a discount and dispense these drugs at reasonable prices. Depending on your income , these clinics provide birth control pills, shots, and implants for free or at a reduced price.
Planned Parenthood clinics
Planned Parenthood clinics accept Medicaid and most health insurance plans. For patients who don’t have either, these clinics often offer discounts on birth control based on income.
Community or public health centers
The community may have nonprofit health clinics, public health centers, or family planning clinics that provide discounted or free reproductive health services. For a nominal fee, usually $25 or less, you can see a doctor, get a prescription for the right birth control method, and sometimes get the birth control method you need, such as a shot, implant, or intrauterine device.
Clinics that focus on women’s health, sexual health, or sexually transmitted diseases (STIs), as well as Title X clinics, are the most reliable places to find discounted or free birth control.
Patient assistance programs
Finally, many pharmaceutical companies, medical device companies, and nonprofit organizations provide drugs and devices for free to uninsured patients in need. Some cover all insured patients. These patient assistance programs usually help patients who prescribe more expensive, brand-name products. However, if you qualify, brand-name patient care is often a cheaper or no-cost alternative to cheap generic drugs.
How to get birth control without insurance
More complicated birth control methods, such as IUDs, diaphragms, or implants, require additional work, such as a pap smear, pelvic exam, or insertion of a contraceptive device. Additional inspections and removal procedures may also be required. These procedures cost more.
But how do you get birth control? It depends on the method you choose.
Over-the-counter contraceptives like condoms, spermicides, and the morning-after pill are just a quick trip to the pharmacy. Family planning and STI clinics can provide free condoms and spermicide. You might be able to just walk in and ask for these birth control methods.
Birth control pills and some medical devices, such as cervical caps, require a prescription from a pharmacy, although some clinics may provide the drug or device on site.
