Mary's Story
When I went to school in Oregon, there was a program called FPEP (for which almost all students qualified) that paid for women's annual exams, STD testing, and birth control. Because of it, I never had to worry about unplanned pregnancy or how I would afford birth control.
I recently moved to Virginia and found that my health insurance here does not cover birth control or annual exams; there is an expensive rider I can purchase that would cover the exam, but it exists to cover pregnancy, birth, and infant care. Despite covering the costs associated with pregnancy, this rider does not cover the much lower cost of birth control. I have been using expired birth control for the past 7 months to keep costs down, which puts me at great risk for an unplanned pregnancy.
I am frustrated and angered that the health insurance that makes me ineligable for county health aid does not cover such basic and essential services as annual exams and birth control. I have fortunately found assistance through Planned Parenthood, but still believe birth control is as essential a preventative medicine as the other medications my insurance does cover. Without birth control, I would be forced to face either abortion or eliminating my health insurance and relying soley on state and county aid programs.
Certainly, it is less expensive for MAMSI (my insurance) to pay for birth control than for the state to pay to support an unwanted child.
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