Representative Joseph Crowley (D-NY) reintroduced the Prevention Through Affordable Access Act in the House of Representatives. This legislation would drastically lower birth control prices on college campuses and community clinics.
Since 2006, prices for birth control have skyrocketed as high as $50/month at clinics and college health centers as a consequence of the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005. This act included a little-noticed provision that prohibited the decades-old practice of pharmaceutical companies selling contraceptives to college clinics and clinics serving low-income women at deeply discounted rates.
Crowley commented in a statement: “A bureaucratic mistake should not stand in the way of protecting the health and safety of millions of women across the nation,” he said. “At no-cost to the American taxpayer, this simple legislative fix will restore affordable access to safe, effective birth control reducing unplanned pregnancies and eliminating a considerable financial burden on millions of college-age and low-income women. I am proud to reintroduce this bipartisan legislation with my colleagues Reps. Kirk, Ryan, Dent, and Schiff, and I am confident we will address this issue in the 111th Congress.”
