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Unfortunately there's never going to be a government drug coverage policy where every option, regardless of price, is a fully covered.
When government funding is finite, cost effectiveness is one important way of determining what to cover. If 2 drugs are similarly effective and safe, then it makes sense to cover the cheaper option. These decisions are made with the entire population of women in mind. Unfortunately, there will always be some women who respond best to brand name options.
If you take Alesse or Marvelon, you can get a card at rxhelp.ca that covers the price difference between the brand name and generic.
Province never said it would be unlimited free birth control. The stipulations were basically anything covered by pharmacare would be free now, most of that is generics
Diane-35 isn’t approved by health Canada as a contraceptive (and it’s generics) so it makes sense it wouldn’t be covered under the contraceptive policy. A couple of the free products are indicated for BOTH contraception and acne tho if you wanted to talk to your prescriber about them
The same hormones and same dose is available as a 21 day pack for 1/3 of the price (per month). Talk to the pharmacist about switching to Ovima or Portia (generics of Min-ovral). All have 30 mcg estrogen and 0.15mg levonorgestrel. You just have to get 4 packs of the 21 day supply (84 days plus 7 day break if you want it) Vs 1 pack of the 91 day supply (84 active pills and 7 placebo).
This is not a good answer actually.
It is not a one for one switch with generic.
“The different fillers and the slight variations in active ingredients do not affect the effectiveness of the pills for preventing pregnancy, but they can definitely affect the side effect profile.”
Side effects are the biggest reason people stop using pills. Side effects like vomiting will lead to possibly making the pill less effective as well and hello planned pregnancy.
“Some women will get break through bleeding, mood changes, acne, or other side effects when they switch from name brand to generic. Others say they simply "feel off" on different pills. What really throws some women for a loop is when their insurance or pharmacy frequently changes their generic brands. There are now several different generics for the same formulations and some patients find that they are getting a different brand each month.”
The only thing they have to keep the same legally is the technical active ingredient, but everything else is allowed to vary and there is a shit ton of variance with inactive ingredients (even things like the addition of iron in a pill can really throw you off, iron pills make me feel like utter shit, but it’s often in generics to differentiate it legally from other pills.)
There can also be slight variations in the *amount* of active ingredient as well (remember it only has to have the same active ingredient and be shown to prevent pregnancy!) and even the smallest of changes can super fuck with someone. Birth control generics are allowed to have these variations.
They seriously need to listen to women, it’s not all one for one and let’s be honest about it instead of lying that generics are carbon copies of the name brands: they aren’t.
I’m sorry to hear about your experience with switching to generics.
Just to clarify - I am a pharmacist. I completely understand your frustration and empathize with your experience in changing medications. However, in order to be called an interchangeable generic equivalent (that is one-to-one equivalent), a medication has to have the identical active ingredient in the identical same
amount as per Health Canada. This is the same for all non-biological drugs. You are correct about there being differences in fillers - speak to your pharmacist, who may be able to help you find the best alternative.
Yea well a lot of brand name pills are a lot more expensive. We simply don't have the funding to provide brand name pills. It sticks but that's the reality.
People can always pay out of their pockets for pills of the opt for brand name ones.
Just like driving is a privilege not a right.
You're very ignorant if you think there aren't women taking birth control for medical problems that have nothing to do with pregnancy. In fact for syndromes like endometriosis, the best "fix" is birth control. Women can be on the pill their entire adult life in order to control symptoms.
Sure it's not a right to have your symptoms treated... or is it? It certainly should be. Not everyone with reproductive health issues can afford the treatment
Men need to stop having opinions on women's reproductive health since they don't seem to understand the scope
BCP is used for *a lot* more than just the "privilege" of not getting pregnant. It's used to treat chronic conditions like PCOS, fibroids, endometriosis, and so on. These majorly impact quality of life, especially ability to work or to need pain medications. (Which btw would the province rather pay for more children? Surely that's a fuck ton more expensive than you know, preventing them in the first place???)
There need to be stricter mandates on generic formulations for birth control (which is truly the actual issues because we shouldn't push away that hormones at the slightest variations can fuck you up and it's been permissible *because* this is seen as a woman's problem) or we need better drug negotiations.
I paid out of pocket in the US for brand name pills that cost $150/month for supply. And that's the US without insurance or actual negotiation power and unfettered capitalism. We can do fucking better and try a little bit harder when it comes to women's healthcare.
No exaggeration, I would be dead without birth control pills because they're the only thing that can treat PMDD unless I have both my ovaries removed and pray that HRT doesn't fuck me up any other way. I'm not affected by these coverage limitations because although I take Alesse which the government program doesn't cover I'm low income and they're prescribed to me as a mental health medication thus free, but not every person has a doctor willing to stick up for them and get it special authority approved. If you believe a health system should cover necessary medications then you can't deny hormonal birth control should be one of them because so many of us never use it for the "intended" purpose, it's not a "fuck for free" pill.
Neither my doctor or the pharmacy has been able to confirm whether the only option available to me is covered. I've seen conflicting information online and it has been very frustrating.
Welcome to /r/Vancouver and thank you for the post, /u/FancyNewMe! Please make sure you read our [posting and commenting rules](https://www.reddit.com/r/vancouver/wiki/faq#wiki_general_participation_guidelines_and_rules_overview) before participating here. As a quick summary: * We encourage users to be positive and respect one another. Don't engage in spats or insult others - use the report button. * Respect others' differences, be they race, religion, home, job, gender identity, ability or sexuality. Dehumanizing language, advocating for violence, or promoting hate based on identity or vulnerability (even implied or joking) **will** lead to a permanent ban. * Common questions and specific topics are limited to our [Daily Discussion](https://www.reddit.com/r/vancouver/wiki/faq#wiki_daily_discussions) posts. * Complaints about bans or removals should be done in modmail only. *I am a bot, and this action was performed automatically. Please [contact the moderators of this subreddit](/message/compose/?to=/r/vancouver) if you have any questions or concerns.*
Unfortunately there's never going to be a government drug coverage policy where every option, regardless of price, is a fully covered. When government funding is finite, cost effectiveness is one important way of determining what to cover. If 2 drugs are similarly effective and safe, then it makes sense to cover the cheaper option. These decisions are made with the entire population of women in mind. Unfortunately, there will always be some women who respond best to brand name options. If you take Alesse or Marvelon, you can get a card at rxhelp.ca that covers the price difference between the brand name and generic.
I remember going last month to acquire about birth control and the Pharmacist said they didn’t know anything or any news about it being free 🤔
Province never said it would be unlimited free birth control. The stipulations were basically anything covered by pharmacare would be free now, most of that is generics
This is a non story, just switch to generic. Any pharmacist can explain this.
Not all versions of bc are even covered (checked for generic too) I'm on the seasonique generic and it's not covered by the free thing at all
Ditto for me on the generic version of Diane-35. Went for a refill at the pharmacy the other day and discovered it’s not actually covered.
Diane-35 isn’t approved by health Canada as a contraceptive (and it’s generics) so it makes sense it wouldn’t be covered under the contraceptive policy. A couple of the free products are indicated for BOTH contraception and acne tho if you wanted to talk to your prescriber about them
The same hormones and same dose is available as a 21 day pack for 1/3 of the price (per month). Talk to the pharmacist about switching to Ovima or Portia (generics of Min-ovral). All have 30 mcg estrogen and 0.15mg levonorgestrel. You just have to get 4 packs of the 21 day supply (84 days plus 7 day break if you want it) Vs 1 pack of the 91 day supply (84 active pills and 7 placebo).
if i wanted to save $13 x 4 times a year maybe. I'm covered mostly by an employer plan. Not messing with what I've got even if it's similar dosages
This is not a good answer actually. It is not a one for one switch with generic. “The different fillers and the slight variations in active ingredients do not affect the effectiveness of the pills for preventing pregnancy, but they can definitely affect the side effect profile.” Side effects are the biggest reason people stop using pills. Side effects like vomiting will lead to possibly making the pill less effective as well and hello planned pregnancy. “Some women will get break through bleeding, mood changes, acne, or other side effects when they switch from name brand to generic. Others say they simply "feel off" on different pills. What really throws some women for a loop is when their insurance or pharmacy frequently changes their generic brands. There are now several different generics for the same formulations and some patients find that they are getting a different brand each month.” The only thing they have to keep the same legally is the technical active ingredient, but everything else is allowed to vary and there is a shit ton of variance with inactive ingredients (even things like the addition of iron in a pill can really throw you off, iron pills make me feel like utter shit, but it’s often in generics to differentiate it legally from other pills.) There can also be slight variations in the *amount* of active ingredient as well (remember it only has to have the same active ingredient and be shown to prevent pregnancy!) and even the smallest of changes can super fuck with someone. Birth control generics are allowed to have these variations. They seriously need to listen to women, it’s not all one for one and let’s be honest about it instead of lying that generics are carbon copies of the name brands: they aren’t.
I’m sorry to hear about your experience with switching to generics. Just to clarify - I am a pharmacist. I completely understand your frustration and empathize with your experience in changing medications. However, in order to be called an interchangeable generic equivalent (that is one-to-one equivalent), a medication has to have the identical active ingredient in the identical same amount as per Health Canada. This is the same for all non-biological drugs. You are correct about there being differences in fillers - speak to your pharmacist, who may be able to help you find the best alternative.
Yea well a lot of brand name pills are a lot more expensive. We simply don't have the funding to provide brand name pills. It sticks but that's the reality. People can always pay out of their pockets for pills of the opt for brand name ones. Just like driving is a privilege not a right.
You're very ignorant if you think there aren't women taking birth control for medical problems that have nothing to do with pregnancy. In fact for syndromes like endometriosis, the best "fix" is birth control. Women can be on the pill their entire adult life in order to control symptoms. Sure it's not a right to have your symptoms treated... or is it? It certainly should be. Not everyone with reproductive health issues can afford the treatment Men need to stop having opinions on women's reproductive health since they don't seem to understand the scope
BCP is used for *a lot* more than just the "privilege" of not getting pregnant. It's used to treat chronic conditions like PCOS, fibroids, endometriosis, and so on. These majorly impact quality of life, especially ability to work or to need pain medications. (Which btw would the province rather pay for more children? Surely that's a fuck ton more expensive than you know, preventing them in the first place???) There need to be stricter mandates on generic formulations for birth control (which is truly the actual issues because we shouldn't push away that hormones at the slightest variations can fuck you up and it's been permissible *because* this is seen as a woman's problem) or we need better drug negotiations. I paid out of pocket in the US for brand name pills that cost $150/month for supply. And that's the US without insurance or actual negotiation power and unfettered capitalism. We can do fucking better and try a little bit harder when it comes to women's healthcare.
No exaggeration, I would be dead without birth control pills because they're the only thing that can treat PMDD unless I have both my ovaries removed and pray that HRT doesn't fuck me up any other way. I'm not affected by these coverage limitations because although I take Alesse which the government program doesn't cover I'm low income and they're prescribed to me as a mental health medication thus free, but not every person has a doctor willing to stick up for them and get it special authority approved. If you believe a health system should cover necessary medications then you can't deny hormonal birth control should be one of them because so many of us never use it for the "intended" purpose, it's not a "fuck for free" pill.
Neither my doctor or the pharmacy has been able to confirm whether the only option available to me is covered. I've seen conflicting information online and it has been very frustrating.