Who needs birth control?

Alarming news: college women and low-income women are now facing skyrocketing birth control costs at college health clinics and safety net providers.

For the last 20 years or so, college health clinics were able to buy birth control at nominal prices, and pass those savings onto college students. Because of a complicated change in the Deficit Reduction Act, college health clinics are now forced to buy birth control at market prices.

This results in a price jump, from $5-$10 to $40- $50, a drastic increase for many college women and low-income women. As a result, this puts affordable birth control out of the reach for many young women.

Congress has known about this problem all year, and has dragged its feet. Congress must fix this serious problem and pass legislation that will restore affordable birth control right now. The solution is simple: make university health centers and safety net clinics eligible, as they were last year, to buy birth control at nominal costs.