By Aidan Cullis
Despite receiving requests every year for revision, Algonquin’s decision not to offer birth control coverage under the health plan has not seen a referendum on the subject since 1998.
When asked if the college receives inquiries regarding the existing policy on birth control, Algonquin’s manager of administrative services Don MacRae said, “There certainly are people who come forward every year.”
He explained that in the initial referendum, students voted overwhelmingly in favour of a mandatory health plan.
“During that time and continuing on until now, Health Services on campus has always offered birth control at cost. That was the main reason why it was not added to the plan.”
Melissa Stewart, a first-year music industry arts student, was one of the students inquiring about the health care plan’s lack of birth control coverage.
“I’m repeating part of my first year because I had to drop out last year due to financial issues. I’m on OSAP and I work part-time. It’s difficult enough for me to afford rent and groceries without worrying about whether or not I’m going to be able to afford my birth control for the month,” said Stewart. “Regardless of what reasons someone is using birth control, if they legitimately care about students’ well-being they should hold frequent referendums on this matter; especially if there are students coming in every year asking about it. I don’t see why a decision made by students who attended this school 16 years ago should put limitations of my ability to access the healthcare I require.”
Health Services currently carries three contraceptive methods on hand: condoms, which are offered free of charge, a variety of birth control pills at $15 a pack, and the emergency contraceptive Plan B for $15 a dose. Condoms typically run $10-$15 a box, and birth control pills are around $25 a pack without insurance. Plan B can cost a whopping $40 a dose, which for students with part-time or no jobs and a time-sensitive issue, can present a major conflict.
Sandra McCormick, manager of Health Services, explained that the college is still able to prescribe other contraceptives to meet individual student needs.
“We have several brands of birth control available in Health Services. Students should come in and discuss options with their doctors because birth control medications which are hormones can cause health complications such as migraines and blood pressure problems for some people,” said McCormick.
When asked if students had ever voiced concerns regarding affordability of birth control, McCormick raised the point that while $15 may be an issue for some, the cost of raising a child is much steeper.
Indeed, CNN Money reported this past August that the basic cost of raising a child for 18 years reached an average of $245,000 in 2013. This is not including the cost of post-secondary education, a price that can reach tens of thousands, even hundreds of thousands of dollars alone.
Ariane Wylie, Community Education Coordinator at Planned Parenthood Ottawa, points out that not everyone uses contraceptives for birth control purposes.
“Hormonal contraceptives provide health benefits for a lot of people. It helps regulate acne, cramps and bleeding, which for some people is major,” she said. Some people have cramps so bad they can’t move. Some people have periods so irregular they’ll bleed for three months if unregulated. If someone is already prone to anemia, which a lot of people with uteruses are, I know people where it’s a problem because they can’t get out of bed because they’re losing so much blood,” said Wylie.
Wylie also highlights the benefits for people with conditions such as endometriosis, which is when the lining of the uterus grows outside of the uterus, causing pain in a lot of people. Polycystic ovarian syndrome is another condition hormonal birth control can help with. Caused by an imbalance of hormones, the condition has a whole range of side effects from unusual hair growth to the development of cysts on ovaries that can impede reproduction if one chooses to do so later in life.
According to “Beyond Birth Control: The Overlooked Benefits of Oral Contraceptive Pills,” a study conducted by Rachel K. Jones of the Guttmacher Institute in the United States, 14% of pill users, or approximately 1.5 million U.S. women rely on them for medical reasons.
Don MacRae has reassured that in the case of a health-related issue, students can receive coverage.
“The way that that happens is if a student is taking contraceptives for non-contraceptive purposes, they would have to get a doctor’s note and purchase their first month’s supply or first contraceptive treatment, and then they would submit that to me and I would submit it to the health plan provider and they would determine whether or not it would be put on the plan depending on what the doctor has said. In most cases it does get approved.”
That being said, there are varying extents as to what the health plan provider will cover as it offers coverage on a case-by-case basis. It is unclear as to what instances of healthcare-related contraceptives would not be covered.