Yasmin, Juliette, Diane, Brenda. The names are instantly recognisable to many women who take the contraceptive pill.
It has been 55 years since the pill hit the Australian market and it remains the most popular method of contraception, despite a host of other longer-acting options becoming available in that time.
If your brand of pill is a newer variety or happens to carry a woman’s name, it is likely you are funding the cost of your prescription entirely out of your own pocket.
But if these newer and more expensive contraceptives are simply out of your price range, the choice of cheaper pills available to you on the Pharmaceutical Benefits Scheme (PBS) is significantly narrower.
And it is a situation some family planning experts believe needs to change.
In the past 20 years, just one pill has been added to Australia’s PBS, which subsidises prescription drugs. That pill was Femme-Tab ED 20/100 in 2013, a lower dose so-called ‘combination pill’ (containing both estrogen and progestogen classes of hormones), which has existed in higher doses on the PBS for many years.
Before that, the most recent oral contraceptive to receive a PBS listing was Levlen back in 1992.
The difference in price between older PBS-listed pills and some newer varieties on the private market can be significant — as high as $28 or so a month if you are a pensioner or other concession card holder ($21 or so a month for a general consumer).
The newer-generation pills contain different hormones and usually a lower dosage than their predecessors, and can have additional benefits such as reducing acne in some women, or being less likely to cause weight gain as a side effect.
The number of women who receive PBS benefits for oral contraceptives has been steadily falling and decreased by 35 per cent between 2003 and 2011, according to a 2013 Family Planning NSW report.
At the same time, Australia’s health policies trail other markets such as the United Kingdom and the United States, which have enacted policies to make a range of contraceptives available for free.
A question of equity
Family Planning NSW medical director Dr Deborah Bateson said the effect of higher prices is most acute for women on lower incomes, whose choice of contraception is limited by what they can afford.
Family Planning advises women to start with the PBS-listed pills, which have good safety records and whose efficacy is backed by strong clinical data, or to consider long-acting reversible contraception methods such as the hormonal IUD or implant, which last up to five and three years respectively and cost about $38 on the PBS.
“For many women these newer pills are unaffordable. I’m very conscious of ensuring that we don’t set women up with an expectation that they’re going to have to pay out this amount of money every month unless they’ve tried other cheaper options,” Dr Bateson said.
She said cost barriers also put pressure on women who have been prescribed a hormonal contraceptive to manage conditions such as polycystic ovarian syndrome, endometriosis or heavy menstrual bleeding and, having considered other options, find that one of the newer brands of pill is the best fit for them.
Top Comments
Going on the point about companies not bothering as much to seek subsidies for the cheaper products, surely there is a huge potential cost saving for the pbs in adding all of the lower cost medications. More choices for less money.
If you're on the pill for non-contraceptive reasons, and your doctor is willing to sign a letter to that effect, then you might be able to claim your pill on your health insurance. You mightn't get much back but it's better than nothing.
A good point, but I know at least when I was a student and low income earner, I didn't have health insurance - just didn't have the money for it.