Obamacare is cutting the cost of birth control—and cheaper birth control

While the study was not able to definitively prove that the law was the cause of these falling expenditures, experts say that the timing and magnitude of the decline suggest that it was.

(Flickr/PSFK PSFK) Insurance companies will now take responsibility for the costs of all contraceptive services not covered by religiously exempt employers.

The lower cost of birth control doesn’t only increase the likelihood of its use, but it can also give women more choice in terms of what method to adopt. But since Obamacare rolled out, researchers noted that pill expenses have significantly dipped by 22 percent in the first few months of 2013. The individual savings have been an average of $255 per woman for the birth control pill and $248 for IUDs (on which women saved as much as 68%).

Obamacare requires private insurers to provide full and comprehensive contraceptive coverage, which includes intrauterine devices, oral contraceptives, under-skin implants, and other forms of FDA-approved birth control options, without charging any extra out-of-pocket costs. This is enjoyed without any additional co-pay from the insured. “I was surprised by the speed at which we’ve seen a drop in price”.

Women are saving a lot of money on birth control thanks to the Affordable Care Act. “The average percentages of out-of-pocket spending for oral contraceptive pill prescriptions and intrauterine device insertions by women using those methods both dropped by 20 percentage points after implementation of the ACA mandate”, Becker wrote. Patty Murray, an advocate for women’s reproductive rights, via Think Progress.

The country’s current rate of unplanned pregnancy is about 51 percent. States have long been the “laboratories of democracy”, and New York can be a leader by enacting the New York Health Act state single-payer plan. Premium costs increased in 65% of existing policies in 2015 compared to 2014, according to a study from the McKinsey Center for U.S. Health System Reform.