Prescription birth control to be free in B.C. starting April 1, but not everything will be covered

British Columbia is set to make contraceptives free for those with a prescriptionstarting April 1.

Funding of $119 million over the next three years will allow full coverage for prescription contraception. It includes oral hormone pills, contraceptive injections, hormonal and copper intrauterine devices, subdermal implants, and Plan B, also known as the morning-after pill. Free prescription contraception will also be made available to men, including trans men.

To access free contraception, government officials said starting in April,residents covered under MSP must get a prescriptionfrom a family physician, then take it to their pharmacist with their MSP card to get it filled.

According to the provincialgovernment's website, B.C. PharmaCare won'tcover cervical caps, condoms, diaphragms, patches, rings or sponges. For some, these exclusions make the promise of freebirth control ring hollow.

Impact of exclusions on British Columbians

Erin Knipstrom, a 41-year-old Maple Ridge woman who uses a transdermalpatch, saidshe's frustrated that her form of contraception won't be covered.

Other forms of birth controlare not an optionfor her, she said. She saidshe and her doctor decided the patch isa non-invasive solution that hasminimal side effects anddoesn't exacerbate any secondary conditions.

"Not covering these other birth controls is really unfair," she said. "So many women are affected and have different reasons for taking birth control."

Karlyn Roach, 31, from Kelownasays she's been using atransdermalpatch for sevenyears aftertrying several methods. Although it functions as birth control for her as well,it's primarily to manage herpain from polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS).

Roach, who works forKelowna General Hospital, says she was let down after checking with her pharmacist whether she would be covered under the new program.

"I just took one look at my husband, who was with me, and had a bit of a good cry because you feel very unseen.

"Ovulating people they don't just grab the first pill that's offered to them and it works miracles. Every single person is different,"said Roach.

While Roachcounts herself lucky that she's in a position to afford the roughly $450 a year for her medication, she worries for others who cannot.

"Money talks. When someone already can't afford something or they can barely afford it, they are going to switch to something that is completely free because why wouldn't you, and they will do it to the detriment of their health."

Sara Eftekhar,a nurse practitioner and AccessBC campaign organizer,said that while offering free contraception is a step forward for reproductive justice, the omission of certain forms of birth control isconcerning.

She said the Ministry of Health has told AccessBCit isconsidering adding more forms of contraception in the future, but not all. However, there's no timeline or any response on what that process would look like.

Currently, vaginal rings and the transdermal patch are covered under Plan W (First Nations Health Benefits). Coverage will continue for those beneficiaries.

Why the exclusion?

According to Wendy Norman, a professor atthe University of British Columbia'sDept.of Family Practice and research chair at the Public Health Agency of Canada, it comes down to the Canadian Agency for Drugs and Technologies in Health (CADTH).

It carries outreviews thatdictatewhich drugs will be covered.

Norman said it hasfoundthat the excluded options were no more effective than birth control pills, and often cost moreand hadmore side effects.

However, she says it doesn't take into consideration the context of people's lives.

"We need a full range of contraceptives to be able to meet the different needs.There are so many reasons that people find different methods to be more suitable to them."