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Wednesday, January 29, 2020

Obamacare Expanded Insurance Coverage of Contraceptives. Prices Soared.

In today’s Los Angeles Times, Cato senior fellow Dr. Jeffrey A. Singer and I note that once the Affordable Care Act’s contraceptives‐​coverage mandate took full effect in 2014, “prices for hormones and oral contraceptives stopped falling and instead skyrocketed. By 2019, they had risen three times as fast as prices for prescription drugs overall.”

Here we provide the underlying data:

The Affordable Care Act (ACA) dramatically expanded insurance coverage for prescription contraceptives such as “the pill.” From August 2012 through January 2014, the federal government phased in the ACA’s requirement that nearly all private health insurance plans must cover all Food and Drug Administration‐​approved prescription contraceptives with no cost‐​sharing. In addition, from 2014 through 2017, the ACA enrolled an estimated 5 million previously uninsured women of child‐​bearing age in either private insurance plans subject to that mandate or in Medicaid, which also covers prescription contraceptives with no cost‐​sharing.

As a result of these changes, the share of consumers who are sensitive to the price of contraceptives plummeted. The Kaiser Family Foundation reports that, among women with large‐​employer coverage who use oral contraceptives, “the share experiencing out‐​of‐​pocket spending…declined from 94 percent in 2012 to 11 percent in 2017.” From 2012 through 2014, ACA‐​mandated coverage of contraceptives all by itself “account[ed] for nearly two‐​thirds (63%) of the drop in out‐​of‐​pocket spending on retail drugs” across all consumers.

The ACA’s reshaping of the market for oral contraceptives precisely coincided with a dramatic increase in prices for those items.

11 comments:

Anonymous said...

I've been saying for a long time that if you really want to get control of medical costs then the answer is to ban medical, prescription, and all other insurance.

A deep pocket company that pays the bills causes the cost of the bills to go up.

A disconnect from the patient to the actual costs causes the costs to go up.

The big problem with the current system is that YOU are ultimately paying but you don't even see how.

Rebel Without a Clue said...

Didn't all medically related items skyrocket under Obamacare?

Anonymous said...

Just so everyone knows, there are foolproof methods of contraception that are free.

Anonymous said...

Obaama careless care Ruined America & the REST of it needs

to be thrown the Hell OUT in 2020 !!!!

Anonymous said...

Obama Care = another Violation of our Constitutional Rights !!

An Illegal order & slick stunt by your Democrats !!!!

Anonymous said...

Im still waiting for my $2500 that lying POS MCcain promised. Its that dam progressive libtard opposite effect. It Ended up costing me an extra $2500. Just like the name proves my point- Affordable care act!! Do you Remember who was sitting with not my president obama when it passed..the CEO OF CVS.
I knew that day we were screwed. But i did buy CVS STOCK

Anonymous said...

I guess I should count my blessings. My measly 30 dollar and hour job has great benefits. 125 dollar a month total coverage with a 20 dollar copay and 5 dollar prescriptions and includes 200,000 in life insurance and long term disability and it's not a state or federal job. Going back to school at 45 paid off.

Anonymous said...

It's boutique health care in one of the filthiest countries but if you need a hip or knee go to India. It's cutting edge and cheap and surprisingly for such a place has lower infection rates and fewer revisions than here in the states.

Anonymous said...

Amazing - that would be the last place I would go for a hip replacement but I hear it is true that their success rate is better than US.

Anonymous said...

Obaama Care also was Breaking the STATES not just us !!!!

Anonymous said...

Throw OUT the rest of it this year !!!!