Province rolling out free birth control, starting Oct. 1

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Manitobans without a drug-insurance plan will be able to get prescription contraceptives at no cost beginning Oct. 1, and the health minister believes it’s a “smart investment” at $11 million annually.

“We are delivering on our promise to provide free birth control for women across Manitoba,” Uzoma Asagwara said Tuesday.

The NDP made the promise during last year’s election campaign, and then outlined its plan last April in its first throne speech. The budget included $5 million to cover costs for the remainder of this fiscal year.

“I have heard loud and clear from women and girls across this province that what they want and what they need is free birth control, and that they’ve been waiting a long time for our province to take that step,” Asagwara told the Free Press.

The health minister acknowledged that many women don’t have a family doctor to prescribe the drugs.

“We are taking steps to make sure that folks are going to be able to get access via a number of primary-care providers,” said Asagwara, the member for Union Station. “We want to limit the barriers to women. You can get a prescription from your family doctor, nurse practitioner, other primary-care providers.”

More details will be made public soon, the minister said.

“We’re going to be enhancing authorized prescriber ability — we’re going to be looking at incorporating other primary-care providers — nurses and other folk — and make them authorized to be able to prescribe birth control,” said Asagwara.

“We do want to make sure that whether you’re at your family doctor clinic or you’re seeing a nurse practitioner at an access centre that you are able to get a prescription.”

The rollout will closely resemble the system British Columbia put in place more than a year ago, Asagwara said, adding Manitoba is looking at ways to improve on it.

“I have heard loud and clear from women and girls across this province that what they want and what they need is free birth control, and that they’ve been waiting a long time for our province to take that step.”–Uzoma Asagwara

B.C. has provided free prescription birth control since April 1, 2023, and budgeted $119 million over three years to allow full coverage.

The program in B.C. includes oral hormone pills, contraceptive injections, hormonal and copper intrauterine devices (IUDs) and subdermal implants. As well, it covers the the morning-after pill prescribed by a pharmacist for emergency contraception.

In the first six months, the B.C. government reported that 166,000 women were prescribed free contraceptives. After eight months, the number grew to 188,000.

A study by the University of British Columbia faculty of medicine’s contraception and abortion research team launched in 2011 found that it cost the provincial government more to pay for the management of unintended pregnancies than it would to provide free contraception for everybody in the province.

The UBC study said free birth control had the potential to save the health system an estimated $27 million annually, and women $10,000 over their lifetime.

Asagwara called it a “smart investment” for Manitobans.

“What the data and evidence tells us unequivocally is that free birth control is great for the economy, great for family planning and improves health-care outcomes,” the health minister said. “It’s good for our province.”

“What the data and evidence tells us unequivocally is that free birth control is great for the economy, great for family planning and improves health-care outcomes.”–Uzoma Asagwara

Manitoba is expected to cover oral hormone pills, IUDs and contraceptive implants but not condoms or the “morning-after pill,” which are both available without a prescription.

“We’re going to roll this out and we’re going to make sure we continue to work with experts in our province to make any adjustments needed as we move forward (so) that the approach that we take as a government is one that reduces barriers,” Asagwara said, adding the government will be providing a comprehensive list of what’s covered.

The morning-after pill “has come up as an area of interest,” Asagwara said. “We’re exploring ways to improve access to that if folks need it.”

The province won’t impose a minimum age for free birth control.

“It’s so important that women and girls who need free birth control are able to access it,” said Asagwara, a registered psychiatric nurse who worked with youth for years.

“It’s a conversation that folks have between their doctor and their primary-care provider. We want to ensure that that during that conversation, if it’s decided that birth control is what’s needed and helpful, then they’re able to do that right away — they’re able to make the best choice based not on how much is in their bank account but what is best for their health.

“When you eliminate barriers to health care, you give youth opportunities to reach out to providers to get answers to their questions and talk about really important subjects… Manitobans of any age who are sexually active can now go into a conversation with a doctor, nurse, or clinician and talk about what their needs are, what their experiences are, without worrying about whether or not there’s going to be a cost associated.”

“It’s so important that women and girls who need free birth control are able to access it,” said Asagwara, a registered psychiatric nurse who worked with youth for years.”–Uzoma Asagwara

The province is working with partners across the health-care system to prepare for the rollout and will make sure it gets the word out to as many communities as possible, including newcomers and at-risk youth, Asagwara said.

carol.sanders@freepress.mb.ca