Clinics May Soon Offer Discounted BC Pills

Now that the shotgun has been lowered, it seems the possibility of the wedding between Bristol Palin and the father of her child, Levi Johnston, is off – at least for now. Levi, who says they broke up a week or two ago, says he’s not “mature enough” for marriage. Wow. What a shocker there.

This happened in my family when my sister was barely 19. My sister married the guy; They’re now divorced. Their youngest daughter Ashley, now 16, is hanging out with us this week for spring break and I’m getting a crash course in high-schooler-ology. Sure, teach abstinence, but we’re talking about a group of hormone-raging kids who think they know far more about life than us adults. She seems like a good kid – swears she’s a virgin. I just hope she uses her head.

Here is some encouraging news for parents (and aunts) of teenagers and young adults. A new provision in the proposed budget signed by President Obama last week could help significantly reduce the cost of birth control for young women by allowing pharmaceutical companies to reinstate discounts on contraceptives that they had previously offered to family planning clinics. Those discounts had been slashed because of a 2005 federal law, designed to save taxpayers money on Medicaid reimbursements for drugs. An unfortunate side effect of that law financially dissuaded pharmaceutical companies from selling their products to these pharmacies at reduced prices. So women began to see contraceptive pills and product costs rise from $5 to $10 a month to $30 to $50 a month. While there is no guarantee pharmaceutical companies will discount their birth control meds, at least now they are not discouraged to do so.

Sources:
New York Daily News
Associated Press
Photo, Sancya/AP

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