Birth control costs rising dramatically

GRAND FORKS, N.C., Nov. 22 (UPI) -- Women purchasing prescription contraceptives at U.S. university and community health centers have been facing dramatically higher costs, a report said.

The New York Times reported Thursday that due to a recently adopted provision in a federal law, some women have been forced to pay three to four times the previous costs for the birth control products.

Under the previous federal law, drug manufacturers had been forced to sell prescription contraception to U.S. health centers at a steep discount.

The money saved by those health centers was ultimately passed on to its customers, a saving that no longer is taking place.

Meanwhile, the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 benefited the drug manufacturers as it allowed them to market their prescription goods to women through the numerous health centers.

Yet now the increased costs are proving devastating to consumers, who are faced with giving up other purchases or engaging in unprotected sex, the report said.

"The potential is that women will stop taking it, and whether or not you can pay for it, that doesn't mean that you'll stop having sex," University of North Dakota in Grand Forks senior Katie Ryan told the Times.