Yay! The Democrats accomplished something positive, instead of just blocking the worst bullshit!
Thanks, Dr. Eschenbach, for seeing the light.
I highly recommend that people read that article on birth control funding -- I haven't seen the issue mentioned anywhere outside of Slate and it sounds like something that will really affect a lot of women.
Shouldn't cheap generics be available by now? The Pill's been around for a while.
There are generics, but Ortho really has a virtual monopoly on some of the less common hormone combos -- which is going to be a problem for a lot of women who experience side effects from the more basic versions of the Pill.
What Sommer said and also it sounds like Ortho was offering some of their pills for even cheaper than the generics.
Yay! Damn! (Respectively.)
What is the policy solution to the second problem? More funding for the clinics so they can afford the more expensive stuff?
Maybe under a different administration, JM.
3: And even the generics are expensive if you're buying them at regular price- often $30 or more.
8.--But it would make a good party platform plank, though, right?
10 - Errr... no (sorry if you were being sarcastic).
Those price raises are really nasty though. It seems like Medicare or some other large-scale agency that can procure the pills should put out bids for low-cost provision of the government clinics' contraceptives. Hell, they could even try to make deals with private insurance companies that provide contraceptive coverage in order to offer more volume. Eventually one of the companies will go low on price so long as there's still profit to be had, since there will be such volume on offer.
Just hope that none of the pill-providers has a powerful Representative in Congress for their manufacturing plant's district.
No, you don't get the political possibilities! We could use it as a wedge issue and then gradually bring in our program of state-mandated abortions; it's a sort of Overton window, see? It can't go wrong!
11: I wouldn't worry about that. Big pharma never has any pull in Congress.