RANT: Rawr Birth Control and Insurance

ChemFanatic25 · November 2014

What?! His insurance doesn't cover birth control? I thought all insurances were required to cover that. Well anyways, I have the Implanon Implant. It was free under my insurance but I believe that you can go to a plan parenthood and it can cost around $400. I would also talk to your OB-GYN about payments or something (unless your DH's insurance doesn't cover anything for woman because they're COMPLETELY BEHIND THE TIMES - whew, out of my system).

Implanon is pretty awesome because you get it inserted and it stays in there for 3 years. It has a 99.99% success rate and is recommended for those who have not had children. So no traveling to the pharmacy monthly and it's a one time deal for payments as well. Luckily I got mine for free . . . . I still can't believe your husband's insurance doesn't cover any form of birth control.

The plus, which I have read about 70% of women I believe, end up not having their period or it becomes less. Now disclaimer, others react differently, it does alter your menstrual cycle one way or another. I have not had my period though. I just buy a pregnancy test to make sure each month.

If I am incorrect about this information, can someone please point it out and I'll fix it. Hope this helps though.

Sugargirl1019 · November 2014

ChemFanatic25 said:
What?! His insurance doesn't cover birth control? I thought all insurances were required to cover that. Well anyways, I have the Implanon Implant. It was free under my insurance but I believe that you can go to a plan parenthood and it can cost around $400. I would also talk to your OB-GYN about payments or something (unless your DH's insurance doesn't cover anything for woman because they're COMPLETELY BEHIND THE TIMES - whew, out of my system).

Implanon is pretty awesome because you get it inserted and it stays in there for 3 years. It has a 99.99% success rate and is recommended for those who have not had children. So no traveling to the pharmacy monthly and it's a one time deal for payments as well. Luckily I got mine for free . . . . I still can't believe your husband's insurance doesn't cover any form of birth control.

The plus, which I have read about 70% of women I believe, end up not having their period or it becomes less. Now disclaimer, others react differently, it does alter your menstrual cycle one way or another. I have not had my period though. I just buy a pregnancy test to make sure each month.

If I am incorrect about this information, can someone please point it out and I'll fix it. Hope this helps though.

Thanks for your disbelief! I was the same way. However, I have found out the reason "they weren't covering it". It is because his name was the only one listed as covered, and when you typed the medication in to see what your payment would be, it came up as "not covered" because, well, he's a man. And men don't need birth control or something stupid like that haha.

So they offer a few from the Affordable Health Care act but are all pills I would not feel comfortable taking. I found out I can take mine for 400 a year instead of over 1200 a year. Or I can change.

bumbletiger88 · November 2014

@sugargirl1019 I am in the same boat as you. I've been at this company for about a year and a half and I was pretty shocked when I discovered on my first day at the benefits presentation that birth control isn't covered for any medical reason. It's kind of awful and starting in December I'm going to be joining the company's plan (I have been on my parents' insurance up until now, which has amazing contraceptive coverage- I could have even gotten Mirena for free but my body was not having it, but I'm turning 26 and will get kicked off).

Is there any way you can get some pills in advance before you have to switch to the new insurance? My gyno was nice about it and helped me get some extra ones while it was still free on my current insurance.

My pills will also be ~ $30 for month (generic Yaz) which sucks compared to getting them free, but I'm trying to rationalize it by thinking that I'm happy to pay that amount per month not to have a baby at this point in my life.

Best of luck!

SBmini · November 2014

Sugargirl1019 said:

What?! His insurance doesn't cover birth control? I thought all insurances were required to cover that. Well anyways, I have the Implanon Implant. It was free under my insurance but I believe that you can go to a plan parenthood and it can cost around $400. I would also talk to your OB-GYN about payments or something (unless your DH's insurance doesn't cover anything for woman because they're COMPLETELY BEHIND THE TIMES - whew, out of my system).

Implanon is pretty awesome because you get it inserted and it stays in there for 3 years. It has a 99.99% success rate and is recommended for those who have not had children. So no traveling to the pharmacy monthly and it's a one time deal for payments as well. Luckily I got mine for free . . . . I still can't believe your husband's insurance doesn't cover any form of birth control.

The plus, which I have read about 70% of women I believe, end up not having their period or it becomes less. Now disclaimer, others react differently, it does alter your menstrual cycle one way or another. I have not had my period though. I just buy a pregnancy test to make sure each month.

If I am incorrect about this information, can someone please point it out and I'll fix it. Hope this helps though.
Thanks for your disbelief! I was the same way. However, I have found out the reason "they weren't covering it". It is because his name was the only one listed as covered, and when you typed the medication in to see what your payment would be, it came up as "not covered" because, well, he's a man. And men don't need birth control or something stupid like that haha. So they offer a few from the Affordable Health Care act but are all pills I would not feel comfortable taking. I found out I can take mine for 400 a year instead of over 1200 a year. Or I can change.

hahaha! OMG I was going to say that it is illegal for them not to cover BC but that is so silly that it was coming up as not covered because he's a man.

When the ACA went into effect my Nuvaring skyrocketed from $30 a month to $70. Silly for politicians to think they can just deem something should be free and that a private company won't find another way to make the money. My insurance reclassified all the "good" BC as class 2 or 3 prescriptions that they could charge more. So I either had to pay more for mine, or switch. I decided to tell my insurance company to shove it by switching to a pill that was covered 100% under the ACA. So my $30 copay went to zero. Yeah, I had to take it every day, but it was a small inconvenience for the money saved. I tried two or three before I found one I liked.

MrsMack10612 · November 2014

I would check and see if they cover Microgestin Fe 1.5/30. This is what I take and it's very close in meds to the Loestrin FE. I have had very minimal side affects, in fact it improved things greatly.

I also used to take Orthocept, which has a slightly different estrogen (I think) but also similar.

lilacck28 · November 2014

Sugargirl1019 said:

Tax accountants, keep me honest, but I thought I read that there were some rules around staying on your parents' insurance after you're married, as far as taxes are concerned. Like being on their insurance makes you their dependent in some regards, so then your spouse can't claim you as a deduction?? Or maybe I'm confusing that with HAVING a child... IDK. I should stop talking out of my ass.
I thought something along those lines too, that since I'm not living in their house anymore and am married and we both have jobs.. I thought it was insurance fraud or something.

Hmm. Hadn't really thought about it. I will be getting married at the end of May, turn 26 at the beginning of June, and be on my employer's insurance by July. I'll probably put my FI on my insurance plan as he'll still have a year left of graduate school.

I'm not classified as a dependent on my parent's insurance now though, even though they cover my insurance. I think the only way for it to be tax fraud would be if I was claimed as a dependent by my parents and then written off as a deduction (how awful does that sound??) by my spouse. But since my parents aren't "claiming" me, there's no "double dipping" going on. (NOT A TAX LAWYER, but following logic...)

ETA: Did a quick google search and came up with
http://thelawdictionary.org/article/does-using-my-parents-health-insurance-make-me-a-dependent/
and
http://thelawdictionary.org/article/can-i-be-a-non-dependent-and-still-remain-on-my-parents-health-insurance/
and
http://thelawdictionary.org/article/can-a-parent-have-his-or-her-married-daughter-on-his-or-her-healthauto-insurance-plan/

Notable paragraphs:
"In other words, "children" who are over the age of 18 and earn enough money to support themselves may still receive health insurance coverage from their parents. This has no bearing on their tax status. In order to secure this benefit, parents aren't required to claim such children as dependents on their tax returns."

ALSO

"In other words, your married daughter can remain on your health insurance policy until her 26th birthday. This has no effect on her marital status or tax-filing protocols: She may remain legally married during the effective coverage period and is entitled to file a joint tax return with her spouse. However, this rule does come with certain restrictions. For instance, your daughter can't include her spouse or children on your health insurance policy. If they wish to procure health insurance, they must do so by other means."

theartistformerlyknownas · November 2014

@lilacck28 thanks for being less lazy with teh googles than me. I think what I was remembering must have been an under-26 year old single mom trying to add her child to "her" insurance which was really her parents' insurance, and couldn't do it.

lilacck28 · November 2014

@lolo883 it was in my best interests to make sure I wasn't unwittingly committing tax/ insurance fraud

smalfrie19 · November 2014

lilacck28 said:

@lolo883 it was in my best interests to make sure I wasn't unwittingly committing tax/ insurance fraud

QFT! I was concerned about that.

hikebikebemerry · November 2014

I'm hoping that I didn't just read over it, but-

I have heard of people having something that isn't normally covered by their insurance because they got a letter from their doctor. There has to be some sort of medical history of an adverse reaction on other stuff; but it may be worth looking into?

ETA: I am currently on Mirena (IUD) and I love it! I'm due to have it out this spring, so I think I might switch back to NuvaRing.

RANT: Rawr Birth Control and Insurance

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