Events Calendar
In This Section
Health reform passes hurdle in Senate
U.S. courts and tribunals have separate set of rules
Hasan to stay in confinement till court-martial
Technology aims to keep drivers' attention on road
Wall Street finds profit in the mortgage mess
Palin attracts big crowds, rekindles campaign spirit
Historic health care bill nears key Senate vote
Most Read Stories
Police accuse bank robbery suspect of gobbling up note (with dashcam video)
Victim of beating in Kent last week is declared dead at Akron hospital
Dad accused of forcing son into field, killing him
Man found dead in North Akron home is identified
Can DNA tests free ex-Akron captain?
Browns' roster nearly devoid of consistent players
Coventry man killed in crash at I-77 ramp
College student mistaken for deer, shot to death
Does it work? Test team returns to try out new products advertised on television
Blogs:
Pets:
Cat-loving chihuahua suckles seven abandoned kittens
The Heldenfiles:
Friday Night Notebook
Patrick McManamon:
Browns vs. Lions live …
Akron Zips:
Hitchens leads Zips in second-half comeback
Tribe Matters:
Seven players added to Tribe’s 40-man roster
Cleveland Browns:
Robiskie, Harrison inactive
Kent State Sports:
Kent State blown out in second half, loses to Temple 47-13
Cleveland Cavaliers:
Gameblog: Cavs vs. Philadelphia 76ers
Buckeye Blogging:
OSU – Michigan college football rivals meet in Baghdad
Varsity Letters:
Four area football teams play tonight
All Da King's Men:
The Sunday Sanity Challenge
Blog of Mass Destruction:
Will Health Care Reform Pass?
Akron Law Café:
Health Care Financing Reform: (69) The Brookings Institute Study on "Bending the Curve" – Four General Strategies
See Jane Style:
Vintage Chic
Car Chase:
TIME TO GET YOUR COLLECTOR CARS WINTERIZED
Let's Talk Real Estate:
Silverdome Potentially SOLD!
Ohio Travels with Betty:
George is looking for a Thanksgiving buffet in Akron.
Sound Check:
Steely Dan Plays "The Royal Scam" at E.J. Thomas Hall
HRLite House:
A Random Rant on Testing
Akron Gamer:
Nintendo's Mario endures even as games come and go
Congress under pressure to fix legislative error that has caused contraception cost to quadruple
By Rob Hotakainen
McClatchy Newspapers
Published on Sunday, Jan 27, 2008
WASHINGTON: Jen Mayekawa temporarily stopped using birth control last spring when she discovered that the cost had more than quadrupled, from $11 to $49 a month.
''There really was no choice,'' said Mayekawa, 21, a senior majoring in Spanish and prenursing at Kansas State University. ''I wasn't about to spend $150 just to get me through the summer.''
With the cost of contraception skyrocketing on college campuses throughout the country, the price of the pill is suddenly big talk on Capitol Hill. And Congress, which apparently caused the jump in prices with a legislative error, is under pressure to intervene.
Birth-control advocates are calling it a crisis: Packets of birth-control pills that once cost $5 to $10 for a monthly supply are now selling for $40 to $50. Officials at Planned Parenthood said the higher prices are putting birth control out of reach for many financially strapped students, and they want Congress to make the issue a top priority.
The soaring prices are the result of a quirk in a federal law that was aimed at saving taxpayers money.
Since 1990, Congress had allowed pharmaceutical companies to offer discounted drugs to college students and the poor. But when Congress passed its deficit-reduction bill in 2005, it included a provision that disallowed university health clinics from getting access to reduced-price drugs.
''Our prices have doubled and tripled,'' said Mark Brown-Barnett, director of the Lafene Health Center at Kansas State University for the past seven years. ''And the hard part is that probably about 40 percent of our students are uninsured.''
Planned Parenthood has found a sympathetic ear from Democratic Sens. Barack Obama of Illinois and Claire McCaskill of Missouri. They've teamed up on a bill that would reverse the 2005 provision, hoping to bring back discounted prices to college campuses. A similar bill is pending in the House.
''Abortion has been such a divisive issue in American politics, but there is one thing that everyone agrees on, and that is we want to have fewer of them,'' McCaskill said. ''And if we all want to have fewer of them, then it seems to me that we ought to put this at the top of the agenda.''
So far, the proposed change hasn't attracted any organized opposition. The National Right to Life Committee, which represents more than 3,000 chapters in all 50 states, hasn't taken a position on the legislation, said Douglas Johnson, the group's legislative director. And McCaskill said she hadn't encountered any opponents.
''I don't think there is significant opposition because it's a technical fix,'' she said. ''If they call, I'd say, hey, this is one we ought to agree on. We're not talking about providing birth control in grade school, for gosh sakes. We're talking about women who are old enough to lose their lives for us in Iraq.''
WASHINGTON: Jen Mayekawa temporarily stopped using birth control last spring when she discovered that the cost had more than quadrupled, from $11 to $49 a month.
Get the full article here.
Comments
Click here to post your comments
