Birth Control w/ Health Insurance

[JSVP08 3]

agree on planned parenthood as the cheapest....

i was also on yasmin before and brought a few pakcs in here. when i ran out of it, i have no health insurance so we went to planned parenthood... since yasmin is banned here (hate changing pill brand coz yasmin works best for me) they gave me desogen... been blaming some of my weight gain on it ... they gave me 9 months supply as of the last visit for free.... however, i look forward to going back to yasmin

[Marilyn. 340]

i had to stop taking the pill because they fund a mass on my liver, it is called a liver hemangioma and it is made up of a tangle of poorly formed blood vessels.. the doctors say I probably was born with it but birth control pills can cause it to get bigger.. so now I guess I need to go to my gyno to discuss my options..

[Tick Tock 3]

Very fascinating information about the Implanon rod. The idea of an IUD always kinda worried me because I've read in some cases how the "arms" can raise (back into the T-shape) and may lead to injury.

I have a question about birth control done through the health department. Does this count as receiving public assistance from the US? I'm pretty sure it does (I mean, it just makes sense to me), but I figure it never hurts to ask. This is in relation to form I-485, Part C, question #2. I'm not meaning to deviate the topic but I figured it was a good spot to ask.

[Lili 3]

How about condoms? I know it is not great and all but it is effective, cheap and without hormones.

[Stann 3]

Im with Vanessa, I have an Implanon rod in my arm and I just got my my third one in April. They are brilliant, as Vanessa said you can feel it under the skin in your arm (about an inch long) but there are no side effects. I just had a new one put in for free in the UK (good old NHS!) so I know Im covered for three years as I currently have no health insurance here. I used to be a little crazy on the contraceptive pill and it would make me gain weight and my skin break out. They would not give me an IUD as I have not had kids but Im happy with the Implanon its so easy - once its done you just forget about it - and I know it varies from person to person but I only have 3 or 4 periods a year on it.

When you get it removed it leaves a tiny teeny scar, just like a pimple scar but its on the under side of your arm so really does not notice. You can have it removed before the three years if you change your mind but I know in the UK they make you pay a fee if its before 3 years so they know you are really serious about having it put in. Not sure about here obviously with the whole health insurance thing.

hope thats some help, I would 100% recommend it

Good luck

Stacey

[sachinky 465]

Does it hurt? I'm a big wimp!

[Tick Tock 3]

I've read that they numb the skin around the insertion area, so insertion should not hurt. However, the price tag just might - in looking around, the only information on price I read (for the US) was $400-$800 for insertion, and up to $200 for removal! That sounded way too expensive - hopefully it is inaccurate.

[Ellie-and-David 38]

I have Implanon.

I have really enjoyed having it, but sadly mine is now running out (I will get it removed in the UK when I visit in September). No weight gain, hardly any periods for the first 2.5 years (although I have to say my final 6 months on the implant have brought irregular bleeding). Insertion was painless.

I too, get crazy on the pill, and my weight gain on the pill is uncontrollable.

I have had no problems with implanon. It is a method of birth control I would recommend (and have) to my friends. I think given the piece of mind it gives (3 years, no worries) and it's effectiveness (amongst the highest of all methods of birth control) it is well worth the money.

If I wasn't planning on getting pregnant next year, I would totally have another one inserted straight away. Until then, it's condoms for us

[TheBears 9]

Yep. Implanon when the husband gets here. Covered for 3 years and a return to fertility usually within 36 hours after removal. Oh, yes.

Call your insurance (the number's on the back of the card) and ask what it would cost for you. What is covered and what comes out of your deductible? Insertion. The device itself. Removal. Office visit/exam fee. Are you allowed to have more than one OB/GYN visit per year? (Don't look at me! I've seen all sorts of wacky insurances.) For me, Implanon comes out of my annual deductible. My OB/GYN offers a discount for paying cash in full and also offers payment plans. For me, it comes to around $600. Divide that by 36 months. That's around $16 per month. Oh, oh yes.

If the pill is expensive even with your insurance, ask your doctor if there is a copay card available. These are assistance cards from the manufacturer. The manufacturer reimburses the pharmacy for the portion of your copay over a certain amount. For example, Loestrin-24 has a $24 per month copay card. Your insurance says it's $40 per month for Loestrin-24. You pay $24. The manufacturer pays the pharmacy the $16 difference.

Or check the manufacturer's website/call the manufacturer. There are often assistance programs for various drugs, some dependent upon income and some not.

Then, check with your pharmacy. Many have preferred drugs now that they will charge less for. If your insurance works with CVS/Caremark, you might want to look into them. We use them a lot in our practice and I've never had complaints. If not, then your insurance probably has a preferred pharmacy or a mail-order option. You can check your insurance's preferred prescription list (aka Formulary), too. It should be available on their website and should tell you which medications are the most and least expensive.

Shop around at pharmacies. Pharmacies can often run "test claims" to find out what your copay would be for a certain drug.

If none of these are available, just be straight with your doctor. You want a reliable birth control pill that not going to interfere with your body's balance too much and has a lower price tag. That's what I want; what you want may be different.

Planned Parenthood is a good option, as others have suggested. If you have insurance, be sure PP is In-Network before heading over.

Umm.... Umm... I'm out of ideas for now. I'm sure I'll think of more at work tomorrow.

[thongd4me 69]

My wife also came with OTC BC from Thailand.

She was a bit out of sorts when she discovered she needed to

get an exam to get a refill.

The routine pap test discovered a pre-cancerous condition which

was operated on successfully.

Hope you never have to go through that, but sometimes our

system does have some benefits. If she had stayed in Thailand

that never would have been caught because pap tests are

strictly elective and she had avoided them to economize,

even if she had a good health plan there.

Yep. Implanon when the husband gets here. Covered for 3 years and a return to fertility usually within 36 hours after removal. Oh, yes.

Call your insurance (the number's on the back of the card) and ask what it would cost for you. What is covered and what comes out of your deductible? Insertion. The device itself. Removal. Office visit/exam fee. Are you allowed to have more than one OB/GYN visit per year? (Don't look at me! I've seen all sorts of wacky insurances.) For me, Implanon comes out of my annual deductible. My OB/GYN offers a discount for paying cash in full and also offers payment plans. For me, it comes to around $600. Divide that by 36 months. That's around $16 per month. Oh, oh yes.

If the pill is expensive even with your insurance, ask your doctor if there is a copay card available. These are assistance cards from the manufacturer. The manufacturer reimburses the pharmacy for the portion of your copay over a certain amount. For example, Loestrin-24 has a $24 per month copay card. Your insurance says it's $40 per month for Loestrin-24. You pay $24. The manufacturer pays the pharmacy the $16 difference.

Or check the manufacturer's website/call the manufacturer. There are often assistance programs for various drugs, some dependent upon income and some not.

Then, check with your pharmacy. Many have preferred drugs now that they will charge less for. If your insurance works with CVS/Caremark, you might want to look into them. We use them a lot in our practice and I've never had complaints. If not, then your insurance probably has a preferred pharmacy or a mail-order option. You can check your insurance's preferred prescription list (aka Formulary), too. It should be available on their website and should tell you which medications are the most and least expensive.

Shop around at pharmacies. Pharmacies can often run "test claims" to find out what your copay would be for a certain drug.

If none of these are available, just be straight with your doctor. You want a reliable birth control pill that not going to interfere with your body's balance too much and has a lower price tag. That's what I want; what you want may be different.

Planned Parenthood is a good option, as others have suggested. If you have insurance, be sure PP is In-Network before heading over.

Umm.... Umm... I'm out of ideas for now. I'm sure I'll think of more at work tomorrow.

Good advice. There are lots of choices, but choosing among them can be daunting.

Loestrin was what was prescribed here for her.

[Harpa Timsah 13,258]

I am looking into NFP and FAM methods.. I can't commit to those quite yet because it seems so weird and hippish. I don't know many that practice those so it's hard to get a good idea of whether or not they work.

I do FAM if you want to talk, PM me. It rawks!! lol

[maiandra 0]

I really started a discussion about they different options here. The implant thing sounds interesting. I will take a look into the copay, also gotta see how much the same would cost me without insurance in Germany.

Somebody wrote something about the planned parenthood. I visited their webpage. I am wondering, is it only for people without insurance? I am willing to pay.

[Dana-Mića 51]

My sister and her bf have been using FAM for the past 5 years and she hasn't been pregnant at all.

[TheBears 9]

Planned Parenthood accepts insurance. Just check to make sure your insurance accepts them (In-Network Provider), too. Or you could pay. But since you'll pay either way, if you have health insurance, why not possibly have it count toward your deductible, too?

[CDAgirlMI 51]

When I lived in Canada I was on Yasmin. I was really happy with it.

I got a 6 months supply before I moved here.

I had my yearly in April(here in the US) & asked if she could write me a script for more pills (Yasmin). She did, but when I took it to the pharmacy, they gave me the generic brand Ocella. I told them I wanted Yasmin, but they wanted $120 for 3 MONTHS! The Ocella was $20 for 3 months. I have BCBS insurance. Thats completely nuts. So far Ocella seems to be doing its job without side effects.

One question to all you on a type of birth control where you get periods every few months, or less:

Are you ever worried of the possibility you might get pregnant and not know cause you don't get a period? I'm like most women who hate "that time of the month" & would like to change to something like Seasonale to get a period 4 times a year, but worried I won't know the pill had a fail & I got pregnant. This might be dumb, but its been on my mind.