I resemble ocrenter’s remark. I am one of those Seasonale “freeloaders”. Mostly because I prefer to be totally incapacitated 1/3 of the time, as opposed to losing a few days a month to debilitating pain. I tried all kinds of other BC. Allergic to latex. Progesterone only is bad for the bones. Generic pills? You ever see the QC of them? Pray that you never have a reaction to the ever-changing fillers that accompany the active ingredient — and remember, the generics will change frequently as various companies low-ball each other, and you can only refill your prescription in 3-month blocks.
And remember, any BC is waaay cheaper than pregnancy or abortion, from the insurance provider’s point of view.
I do understand the need to control health care costs. However, I hardly believe that the choice of BC is a major cost factor. And most technological advances drop in cost the more widely deployed they are, so what is going on here?
My not so humble proposal:
What about reducing costs by standardizing billing codes across the industry, so people could really comparison shop, or even understand what the hell they are being billed for? I suspect 25-50% of the cost of medical care is sucked up TRACKING the billing! I spent months one time trying to convince my insurer that “no, really, it’s impossible for the hospital that YOU cover to have a radiology department that is OUT OF NETWORK!” It turned out that the insurer had the wrong tax ID number! Off by one digit! All that time spent with the billing reps, wasted.
