# Who pays for Birth Control? **URL:** \ **Category:** In My Humble Opinion\ **Created:** [March 8, 2004, 1:12am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-pays-for-birth-control/233048 "2004-03-08T01:12:47Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 13\ **Page:** 2
**Author:** ![CrazyMonkey](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/ee59a6/32.png) [@CrazyMonkey](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/CrazyMonkey)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2004, 6:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-pays-for-birth-control/233048/21 "2004-03-08T18:39:02Z")
I think that the only fair idea is to put a jar in your bedroom. Whenever one of you is horny, that person must put $1 into the jar before initiating a roll in the hay. Not only is this method fair, but it provides opportunity for great fun on April Fool’s Day, when you can drop a ten dollar bill into the jar when your boyfriend isn’t around. ---
**Author:** ![mnemosyne](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/m/c4cdca/32.png) [@mnemosyne](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/mnemosyne)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2004, 7:12pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-pays-for-birth-control/233048/22 "2004-03-08T19:12:07Z")
Ths probably won’t work for everyone, and it’s quite possible that I’m just a freak, but I am on birthcontrol pills (Alesse) and I stopped getting monthly migraines alongside my periods when I stopped taking the placebo pills. I got used to taking the pills, so I stopped worrying about taking the placeholder placebos, and since then I only get migraines due to my other triggers (such as caffeine). It’s great! As for who pays - right now my school does (well, I do, via student fees, but it’s shared with everyone else!). I don’t pay a penny, but that runs out in June, since my student health plan is only good for 6 months after graduation. Hopefully by June I’ll be able to afford paying my own (I need a job!) I live with my SO, but he tends to pay other bills that I don’t, while I pay for car things etc. ---
**Author:** ![AngelicGemma](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/439d5e/32.png) [@AngelicGemma](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/AngelicGemma)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2004, 7:33pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-pays-for-birth-control/233048/23 "2004-03-08T19:33:50Z")
> [@AngelicGemma](#): > > Well I’m in the UK, so it’d free for me to be on the pill. If I DID have to pay I’d expect my boyfriend to pay half. I have just discovered my boyfriend didn’t know I get them for free. He’d thought I’d been paying. Nice of him to offer to contribute! ---
**Author:** ![norinew](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/eb9ed0/32.png) [@norinew](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/norinew)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2004, 8:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-pays-for-birth-control/233048/24 "2004-03-08T20:54:34Z")
To say that each of you should pay half _sounds_ good, but may not be realistic. Before my hubby and I were married, I was on the pill, I didn’t have prescription insurance, and whichever one of us could afford it when it was time for a new pack was the one that paid. Both of us had notoriously variable income. Some months he picked up the cost, some months I picked it up, some months we had to combine resources. You also really should research your options. If there’s no Planned Parenthood near you, check your county health department. They usually have low-cost birth control available (pills, condoms, contraceptive film, contraceptive gel). Good luck! ---
**Author:** ![Indygrrl](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/58f4c7/32.png) [@Indygrrl](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Indygrrl)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2004, 9:09pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-pays-for-birth-control/233048/25 "2004-03-08T21:09:14Z")
> [@Omnipresent](#): > > Waiting for new health benny’s to take affect and then it’s “snip-snip”. But, I’ll still wear condoms. It’s cleaner. Wow. Does your girlfriend know you feel that way? I can’t imagine having sex with someone who thought I was dirty. ---
**Author:** ![Lockz](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/f4b2a3/32.png) [@Lockz](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Lockz)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2004, 10:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-pays-for-birth-control/233048/26 "2004-03-08T22:00:55Z")
My girlfriend is on the shot currently, so I believe our health care system pays for that (Yay for Canada!). But due to my Hepatitis C, we’re also using condoms to make sure nothing bad happens. What we do there is take turns buying boxes whenever we notice we’re running low. ---
**Author:** ![racinchikki](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/eada6e/32.png) [@racinchikki](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/racinchikki)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2004, 10:18pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-pays-for-birth-control/233048/27 "2004-03-08T22:18:24Z")
For the past couple of years my birth control has been free - first from college health plan, then because my part-time job made so little money that Planned Parenthood gave me care for free. I’m going to a different clinic tomorrow, and I might make too much money now with my full-time job (it’s not much over minimum wage, but it’s full-time) to get things for free. Since I do have that full-time job, and Gunslinger’s work with the paper is part-time, I’ll probably pay for my pills by default as being the party with the greater amount of free money. If I am in dire straights and need him to chip in, though, I know he will. ---
**Author:** ![whiterabbit](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/cab0a1/32.png) [@whiterabbit](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/whiterabbit)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2004, 10:23pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-pays-for-birth-control/233048/28 "2004-03-08T22:23:44Z")
> [@mnemosyne](#): > > Ths probably won’t work for everyone, and it’s quite possible that I’m just a freak, but I am on birthcontrol pills (Alesse) and I stopped getting monthly migraines alongside my periods when I stopped taking the placebo pills. I got used to taking the pills, so I stopped worrying about taking the placeholder placebos, and since then I only get migraines due to my other triggers (such as caffeine). It’s great! I never took the placebos, so that theory obviously won’t fly for me. I don’t GET migraines otherwise more than about once or twice a year, so when they started slamming me during my periods, I knew something was wrong. I wouldn’t expect a man to pay up for part of the BC costs unless we were an actual couple, but since I wouldn’t be having sex with anybody unless we _were_ a couple, that again is a moot point for me. I’d really like to find some pill or something that works for me even though I’m not currently having sex because the other benefits (like knowing to the hour when my period is going to start) are just wonderful. ---
**Author:** ![MikeG](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/mikeg/32/4329_2.png) [@MikeG](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/MikeG)\ **Post date:** [March 8, 2004, 10:39pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-pays-for-birth-control/233048/29 "2004-03-08T22:39:22Z")
> [@Indygrrl](#): > > Wow. Does your girlfriend know you feel that way? I can’t imagine having sex with someone who thought I was dirty. That is not how I understood that comment. Imagine you had sex in the morning and you have…leakage throughout the day. It’s Not Pleasant to have stuff dripping down there all day accordng to both my gf and my ex-wife. I used condoms in many cases in both relationships for that very reason. ---
**Author:** ![Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/h/8edcca/32.png) [@Helen\_s\_Eidolon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Helen_s_Eidolon)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2004, 12:03am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-pays-for-birth-control/233048/30 "2004-03-09T00:03:33Z")
I pay for it myself. It’s not very much, 40$ (canadian) every three months. I suppose I could ask my boyfriend to contribute and he would, but I don’t really see the point. We don’t really do the whole owing each other money thing, sometimes I pay for stuff and sometimes he does. I bet it all comes out pretty close to even in the end. In any case, when we move in together our finances are going to be shared anyway. ---
**Author:** ![NajaNivea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NajaNivea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NajaNivea)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2004, 3:35am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-pays-for-birth-control/233048/31 "2004-03-09T03:35:10Z")
I’m in kind of a hurry, so I just skimmed over the responses–I apologize if someone has said this already. Have you gone into a Planned Parenthood? They will provide you with all the free birth control pills, condoms, and related birth control type accessories your little heart desires, if you meet some VERY basic criteria–in my state, you can’t have been surgically sterilized (duh), and you have to make under a certain amount… however, they’re very generous with the cut-off limit, and don’t do any kind of income variation, so whatever you self-report is what they consider your income. It’s based solely on your income, not your parents’ income, if you’re still a dependant. You’d need to check with a PP clinic in your area, but I believe the qualifiers are the same, or very similar, nationwide. Did I mention I recently got hired as a new Family Planning Assistant with Planned Parenthood Health Services of Southwestern Oregon? 😉 ~mixie ---
**Author:** ![NajaNivea](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/n/22d042/32.png) [@NajaNivea](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/NajaNivea)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2004, 3:59am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-pays-for-birth-control/233048/32 "2004-03-09T03:59:46Z")
> [@torie](#): > > I am on Seasonale, which is a 91 day cycle. It’s pretty a pretty heavy pill, so maybe it is having an effect on me. I don’t like it much. I bleed when I am on it sometimes, which is inconvenient and defeats the purpose…Not getting my period for three months!! I’m also beginning to wonder about the long term effects of skipping periods that way. > > I hadn’t thought about going to a clinic or Planned Parenthood. Thanks! > I think what I will do is switch to a lower dose pill and ask him if he will pay half of any costs I happen to accrue. > > It’s a plan!! Thanks guys! Again with the Planned Parenthood plug ;), go in and talk to the clinic assistant about your concerns, what you like and dislike about the pill you’re on, and the RN or NP may change your prescription to a lower dose, or to a monophasic from a triphasic, or vice versa. The 91 day cycle, or tri-cycling, doesn’t have any negative long term side effects, and does carry significant benefits, including a reduction in ovarian cancer, if I recall correctly. If you’re having breakthrough bleeding after having been on that particular pill for more than the full three-month cycle, then you should definitely talk to the NP about changing prescriptions. If you’ve only been on it for the two months or so that you mentioned in the OP, then stick with it through the rest of the cycle before you make a decision to change–it really does take about three full-month cycles for your body to adjust to a new pill prescription. The moodiness and breakthrough bleeding should clear up within that time, and if they don’t then definitely see about changing to a different pill. And go to Planned Parenthood! It’s free! ~mixie ---
**Author:** ![Omnipresent](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/o/8c91f0/32.png) [@Omnipresent](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Omnipresent)\ **Post date:** [March 9, 2004, 11:08am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-pays-for-birth-control/233048/33 "2004-03-09T11:08:18Z")
> [@MikeG](#): > > That is not how I understood that comment. Imagine you had sex in the morning and you have…leakage throughout the day. It’s Not Pleasant to have stuff dripping down there all day accordng to both my gf and my ex-wife. I used condoms in many cases in both relationships for that very reason. Exactly. That is what I was referring to. She and I have discussed it. She’s VERY clean. Frankly, if she wasn’t, well, she wouldn’t be my girlfriend! Not to really get into it but, well, you know - I gotta eat that thing and, frankly, I don’t feel like tasting myself!!! [Previous page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/who-pays-for-birth-control/233048.md?page=1)