A Pennsylvania woman was shocked after insurance billed her over $14K for her birth control.
During her annual OB-GYN visit last year, Callie Anderson, 25, expressed her desire to get off birth control pills. After a discussion with her doctor, they decided the best option would be an intrauterine device (IUD), she told KFF Health News.
According to Planned Parenthood, an IUD is one of the most effective contraceptives, regardless of an individual’s weight. It is a small, t-shaped device that is inserted into the uterus by a doctor to provide birth control.
There are two types of IUDs: copper and hormonal. Copper IUDs can prevent pregnancy up to 12 years while hormonal IUDs can prevent pregnancy for three to eight years. Both are more than 99% effective.
“She told me that IUDs are almost universally covered under insurance but she would send out the prior authorization anyway,” Anderson — from Scranton, Pennsylvania — said of her doctor.
Anderson worked at the local office of a U.S. senator but was covered under her father’s health insurance plan. She said she never heard anything after her doctor sent out the prior authorization, so she assumed the IUD was covered.
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In March 2024, Anderson had her IUD inserted and paid a $25 copay for the procedure.
“I was probably in the room itself for less than 10 minutes, including taking clothes on and off,” she told the outlet.
However, Anderson was shocked when she later received a bill for $14,658: $117 for a pregnancy test, $9,862 for a Skyla IUD, $4,057 for “clinic service,” and $622 for the doctor’s services.
Under the Affordable Care Act — commonly referred to as Obamacare — preventive care services, which includes birth control, are covered with no out-of-pocket cost to patients.
However, Anderson learned that she has a “grandfathered” health insurance plan, which is one that existed before former President Barack Obama signed the ACA into law in March 2010. This means that her plan is not required to comply with the ACA.
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Anderson said she wasn’t aware she had a grandfathered plan and assumed her doctor, who was with a nonprofit health system in Pennsylvania, would’ve contacted her if there was an issue with coverage.
She was now responsible for paying the $14,658 bill.
“Fourteen thousand dollars is astronomical. I’ve never heard of anything that high” for an IUD, Danika Severino Wynn, vice president for care and access at the Planned Parenthood Federation of America, told KFF.
Anderson immediately started stressing over the situation and explained that she couldn’t afford the bill, which was more than 20% of her annual income.
“I am appalled that no one at [the doctor’s office] checked my insurance,” she told staff. The billing office, she said, “told me that if I didn’t pay in 90 days, it would go to collections, and that was scary to me.”
Eventually, after numerous calls with the doctor’s financial assistance office, Anderson said a representative later offered a significant discount if she was able to make one lump payment. She agreed and ultimately paid $5,236.
“I wasn’t in therapy at the time, but at the end of this I ended up going to therapy because I was stressed out,” Anderson said.
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