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Birth Control Company To Deliver Cheap Solution for Students
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By
Lindsay Marlenga
11 March 2004
(U-WIRE) SYRACUSE, N.Y. – Recently, an online pharmacy program has begun to sell oral contraceptives making birth control pills cheaper and more readily accessible. Smart Woman Rx, a division of the PlusCare pharmacy network, was established to reduce the cost of birth control pills for women who use oral contraceptives, said Lindsay Founds, a spokeswoman for Smart Woman Rx.
"The program is also a convenient way for women to obtain their oral contraceptives. This way they can skip going to the pharmacy every month," Founds said.
Syracuse University freshman Jennifer Hanscom, a fashion design major, agreed that the convenience of the pharmacy program makes it appealing.
"A company like this provides accessibility that students don’t have anywhere else on campus," she said.
By purchasing birth control pills from Smart Woman Rx instead of a local pharmacy, women can save approximately $286 a year, Founds said. A survey conducted by the Opinion Research Corporation, between Aug. 15 and Sept. 15, 2002, of college-age women, 18-24, described the ways women would spend the money normally devoted to buying birth control pills. When given a choice between a new outfit, six months of cell phone use, 17 new CDs or a manicure every two weeks, 35 percent of women chose an expensive outfit that they could otherwise not afford.
Smart Woman Rx appeals to college students who have limited funds.
"It’s good for college students," said Danielle Adler, a Syracuse University freshman social work major. "We don’t have much money to spend so any price break is a good thing."
Adler also thinks the lower price and the convenience of home delivery will encourage more college-age women to use birth control, she said.
Forty percent of women in the United States ranging in age from 15 to 24 use oral contraceptives. With each cycle costing between $20 and $35, women in this age range spend approximately $1.6 million a year on birth control pills, Founds said.
The discounted pharmacy program distributes three brand name versions of the pill: Levlen, Tri-levlen and Levlite. The price of each brand varies and decreases when the consumer "buys in bulk." Levlen and Tri-levlen cost $14 per package when one or two packages are ordered at a time and reduced to $13 a package if three are purchased. Levlite is slightly more expensive, costing $16 for one or two packages and $15 per package for three. No more than three packages can be purchased at a time, she said.
Currently these brand names are the only ones available at the online pharmacy.
"I’ve never even heard of Levlen," Adler said. "I would be more interested if they had a bigger variety and more common brands."
Orders should arrive within one week and are not subject to additional shipping charges, unless overnight shipment is requested. Overnight shipping adds an additional $16 to the bill, Founds said.
Before an interested customer can begin purchasing the oral contraceptives, a prescription issued by a physician is needed.
Planned Parenthood also offers oral contraceptives for limited college budgets. At Planned Parenthood, birth control pills do not have a fixed cost. The price is based on the patient’s income and ability to pay. A package of Ortho Tri-Cyclin birth control pills can cost between $10 and $25, said Cindy Rosenberg, a counselor at Planned Parenthood.
Rosenberg supports the use of Smart Woman Rx.
"Anything that makes it easier and more convenient for women to take their pills should be encouraged," Rosenberg said.
Copyright ©2003 Daily Orange via U-Wire
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