yes, plan B is much too expensive! when it went over-the-counter, I got a pack when I was refilling my birth control to have on-hand, and I couldn't believe my receipt! I paid at least $40. I couldn't believe how high the price was.

Even at the health services center of the university I attend, Plan-B/EC is $30. FOr college students! It's certainly better than in New York City, but still a hefty price.

I'm really glad that when I needed EC, it only cost me $9.50 at the hospital. Granted, I did have to drive 60 km to get it and that was with my British Columbia health care card, but it was overall a non stressful process because I didn't have to worry about how I'd be paying for it, etc. Especially since I was fairly young at the time with not a lot of disposable income or a credit card.

I paid somewhere between $40 and $50 about a year ago from my pharmacy, in a college town in Michigan.

I had to use e.c. this past weekend, and I called around to get some prices before I went out. The Planned Parenthood in my area charges $25, but since it was a Saturday afternoon, they were closed. Rite-Aid was asking $45, and my school's health center was charging $50. $50!! I went with Rite-Aid and thankfully the guy I was with is a friend and offered to pay half. Still nuts.

I bought it once a little while ago when I was staying in France. You want to know what I paid? 7.50

This country's idea of what constitutes acceptable, affordable healthcare, particularly for women, is disgusting.

fyi, EC can actually be taken up to 120 hours (five days) after unprotected intercourse. Not just the 72 as stated here.
Of course, the earlier the better.

http://ec.princeton.edu/questions/ectime.html

I paid $75 for it at the Manhattan clinic of a "low to no cost" reproductive health organization that will remain unnamed. But seriously, WTF? 75 fucking dollars?

::chokes::

Holy extortion! When I go to my local Planned Parenthood in SoCal, I walk out with four months worth of NuvaRing, thirty condoms, and a couple packs of Plan B all for free.

You know what FSB, I'm originally from SoCal and I probably worked for the Planned Parenthood affiliate you're referring to, and that sounds about right. Pricing varies from affiliate to affiliate, clinic to clinic. What I was told at this Manhattan Shmanned Marenthood* medical center is that that particular clinic wasn't subsidized by the government and that's why the EC was so expensive.

But still. seventy five fucking dollars?!

*Not the actual name ;)

Yeah, I went to walgreens a month or two ago for my friend to inquire about plan b. You had to be 17 to get it OTC and it was nearly 50 dollars.

Jesus fuck that's expensive. It's like "do I eat the next two weeks or do I get EC?" Wow. Well I guess that's one way to limit access... jerks.

$50 isn't really that much. I had to get it not that long ago, and while it wasn't that great to pay 49 and some change, it wasn't a big deal. It's *emergency* contraception. It's not something you should be, or have to be, buying every day or something.

A 50 dollar one-time event shouldn't break you.

I could understand the price being a problem if someone was relying on it, but that's part of why it, and abortions aren't incredibly cheap/free. They're not meant to be used as substitutes for proper contraception.

88mph, as someone mentioned upthread, $50 could mean the choice between eating for two weeks and getting EC. $50-$60 is about what I pay for two weeks of groceries for myself and my boyfriend. If we didn't have any sort of savings (which a lot of people in this country who live paycheck to paycheck, including college students who are already disproportionately affected by high BC prices, don't), we would have had to take the chance that I didn't really "need" Plan B when we picked it up.

Well, it would stand to reason that foresight would say to then save up, buy it before you need it, and hang onto it for said emergency.

I mean, I don't think it's expecting too much of people that they'd think ahead in such a way.

Now, I have some on hand for emergencies (not because of the price but because of the travelling distance required to get it). I never thought twice about the fact that I should have it onhand until it happened to me.

And while keeping it onhand is a good idea, it shouldn't be something that is necessary because of the price.

You know, I would LOVE to not live paycheck by paycheck. To me, $50 is A LOT of money to take out of my budget for one month. That would mean I would probably have choose a bill to be a month late on.
I had a little bit of money saved up, but last week, the headlights on my car stopped working, so there goes that.
As maude pointed out, she paid $7.50 in France for EC, which means they're making over $40 in profit over here. So no, I don't think it's too much to ask to sell it at a more reasonable cost.

i'm 18 and bought it for my 17 year old frined a while back, it was $50. i couldn't believe it. if i ever needed to get some i most likely wouldn't be able to afford it.

"Well, it would stand to reason that foresight would say to then save up, buy it before you need it, and hang onto it for said emergency.

I mean, I don't think it's expecting too much of people that they'd think ahead in such a way."

It would stand to reason that minimum wage (and thus the ability to save up or "buy ahead" EC and other emergency supplies, like medicine) would increase as the cost of living increases.

Oh wait, it hasn't? The cost of living in NYC is still insanely high? Oops.

I hate to be a troll/angry wench, but for the love of (insert deity here), someone making $7.50 an hour (New York State minimum wage), cannot just shell out a full day's pay "just in case" when there's rent, utilities and food to pay for. The people who MOST need inexpensive access to contraceptives can't get it because they're being forced to choose between eating - not for a day but a week, or even two weeks - and Plan-B/EC.

Why are all forms of birth control so expensive? I don't know if this is just a Texas thing, but birth control isn't even cheaper for students at university pharmacies.

Also, I once had to ask my pharmacist about how some antibiotics would interact with my birth control and it was horribly awkward and I got judgmental stares from all the women (I couldn't believe it!) behind the counter. I couldn't imagine having to ask them for Plan B.

Why the hell does all this rational societal innovation have to be so haphazardly executed! Why cant adults and teens just friggin get EC over the counter without prescription!Why let a gang of American taliban (ie, republicans)interfere with modern medical reproductive choices! We could be so much more progressive without these degenerates.

A previous post highlighted the role of the Deficit Reduction Act signed by President Bush last year in the rising cost of BC. I wouldn't be surprised if EC was, at one point, much cheaper because pharmas were faced with incentives to providing them at a lower cost. Especially in the case of college health facilities, the rising costs are probably attributed to this single act alone. One budget bill (created to make extra room for war-time spending and paying interest on previous war debt) has created a crisis. Not only can we now not afford preventative, regular oral contraceptives, we can't access emergency contraceptives either.
I work at my campus health service, and I believe that EC is still only $20 (b/c we have a large stock from last year). But who can say what the market price will be?
I am tired of the pharmas' argument that R&D account for the high cost of medication. EC technology isn't all that far off from decades old oral BC technology. How can they possibly use R&D as an excuse? (Maybe they don't, but I'm prepared for that argument!)

So if the pharmacies are price gouging, what should the price be?

I'm guessing that the low price in France is due to government subsidies.

I was going to echo what blogjunkie posted. Plan B is effective as far out as 120 hours (5 days) according to the folks at Princeton. Barr has not changed their web site to reflect that, though. Not sure why.

The last pharmacy I checked with charged $50 for Plan B (local pharmacy here in the Miami area), and I think it is $25 at the University of Miami Health Center.

2 years ago, when ec still needed a 'script, I bought some from my campus nurse. It was $15.

Sure, it was probably subsidized by what was going to become my debilitatingly huge college debt, but I'm still really thankful for it!

$50 bucks is just another way to keep the poor poor and to only allow rich women reproductive choice.

You poor ladies have to have more children, so we can continue to look down on you and call you "welfare queens." Or not eat for 2 weeks- you get to pick! How's THAT for choice?

I had to buy a pack for the first time earlier this week. Even at my on-campus pharmacy, it cost me nearly $30. That's a great deal of money for a college student to drop, which is why a lot of my other friends would rather wait it out and hope for the best.

this is ridiculous...i live in canada (in alberta) and ...i payed for ec a month ago. four dollars!!! jesus, fifty dollars? i can almost not believe it...except...i can. dang, way to make it accessible and affordable. :\

Caitlin:

I believe that the FDA approval for Plan B only tested the 72 hours, but all other research shows that up to 120 hours works, on not just Barr's product but all forms of EC.

KristaJo - Emergency contraception was never subject to the pharmaceutical discounts that regular bc was, so unfortch we cannot blame its high cost on the Deficit Reduction ACt. BUT the DRA is to blame for the skyrocketing cost, as you know, of bc at college health centers and safety net providers.

People can take action at all the major repro rights orgs to pass the Prevention Through Affordable Access Act.

Plan B prices are too high but you should know that retail pharmacies are paying at least $30 for a single pack of Plan B and hospitals, clinics, etc. typically pay less than $10.