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About Oregon daily emerald. (Eugene, Or.) 1920-2012 | View Entire Issue (Sept. 18, 2000)
Federal funding allows students free birth control ■ Students are now eligible for free family planning services through the University Health Center, including contraceptives, STD screening and pregnancy testing By Kristina Johnson Oregon Daily Emerald For struggling students, piecing together pocket change for the next package of Top Ramen is hard enough — forget about the next package of birth control pills. “Its really sad when somebody has to choose between the pill and groceries,” said Diane Duke, associ ate executive director of the local Planned Parenthood. The University Health Center has teamed up with Planned Parent hood to remedy this problem. The health center started offering free family planning services in July to students as part of the federally funded Family Planning Expansion Project, a five-year Medicaid pilot project aimed at reducing teenage pregnancy. The health center administration became interested in the project ear lier this year when they noticed that birth control prescriptions in their pharmacy were dropping. “We were losing students to Planned Parenthood,” Health Cen ter business manager Daralyn De Haven-Murdoch said. The local chapter of Planned Par enthood, in its second year of fund ing through FPEP, was providing what the health center couldn’t — free contraceptives, STD screening and pregnancy tests. In January, Planned Parenthood agreed to let the health center “pig gyback” on its FPEP funding, in part because it was overwhelmed with new clients from the program. Ac cording to Duke, Planned Parent hood’s client base shot up by 70 per cent in the first year of the FPEP pro gram and has continued to swell. “We’re swamped,” Duke said. “We’ve had to extend our hours to evenings and Saturdays because of this program.” Duke estimates that one out of 10 visits to the Planned Parenthood Family Planning Ex pansion Project at the Health Center Free services annual women’s gynecological exam pregnancy tests pap smear follow-up screening for urinary and reproduc tive tract infections, including STDs contraceptive counseling visits Free contraceptives available oral contraceptives (the pill) Depo Provera Norplant male & female condoms vaginal spermicides emergency contraceptives (the “morning after” pill) cervical cap diaphragm IUD For more information or to apply for FPEP, contact the University Health Center at 346-4441 or visit www.healthcenter.uoregon.edu. clinic is from students. She said she hopes Planned Parenthood’s bur den will shrink now that the health center is providing free services. “We’re hoping that students will go there,” she said, pointing out that the location is more convenient. “And that's their health care provider. If I go in [to the health center] for a sore throat, it’s a one-stop shop. I can walk out the door with 12 cycles of pills. ” DeHaven-Murdoch agreed. "A lot of students have a rapport with practitioners here.” she said. “They want to get all of their health care in the same place. If we lost stu dents to Planned Parenthood, we’re hoping we’ll get them back now.” She said the health center has al ready seen 275 eligible students since the program started in July, and they’re gearing up for the swarm of returning students in the fall. At least 25 of the students they’ve seen have been men, and she says she hopes they will see more. “A lot of programs are focused on women, but this program focuses on men as well,” she said. “They can come in and have STD screen ings, get free condoms or talk about contraceptive management.” Dr. Gerald Fleischli, medical di rector of the University Health Cen ter, said the FPEP program started partly in reaction to the Clinton ad ministration’s failure to pass univer sal health care legislation. The gov ernment has tried to compensate for the failure, he said, by addressing “certain targeted needs which they see as priorities,” including vaccines for children and family planning. Before receiving binding from FPEP, clinics like Planned Parent hood operated on a sliding scale in which a client’s fee was determined by his or her income, Duke said. She said even a modest fee deterred Tom Patterson for the Emerald Diane Duke, associate executive director of the local Planned Parenthood, said students should not have to make ‘either-or’ decisions when it comes to family planning. some people. “The thing about FPEP islhat be fore, even in student health centers, the pill wasn’t completely free,” she said. “When you take the barrier of cost away, no matter how low... peo ple are more likely to come in. This one is easy because it’s self-reported income. It’s for people at 180 percent of the poverty rate and below.” In Oregon, this translates into an income of up to $1300 a month for an unmarried person. Duke said the idea is to catch people who don’t qualify for the Oregon Health Plan but can’t afford private health insur ance. Students covered by their par ents’ health insurance can still quali fy, however. The application waives requirements for students who don’t want their visits to show up on their parents’ insurance statements. “Our goal,” Duke said, “is to offer family planning to as many people as possible.” Duke said so far FPEP clients are happy with the program — espe cially women, who she said pay an average of 68 percent of the costs of birth control. “We tell people their contracep tives are free, and they’re thrilled,” she said. “It’s like Christmas.” The University Health Center is located at 13th Avenue and Agate Street. Women’s clinic appoint ments can be made for Monday, Wednesday and Thursday, 8:30 a.m. to 3:50 p.m., and for Tuesday, 9 a.m. to 3:50 p.m. General clinic appoint ments are available the same times — additional times are also avail able Friday from 9 a.m. to 3:50 p.m. No appointment is necessary on Sat urday for a general clinic visit. Urgent care is available at the health center every day until 6 p.m., beginning at 9 a.m. Tuesday and 10 a.m. Sunday, with an 8 a.m. start time the rest of the week. CHECK OUT THE CAREER CENTER Whether you’re a senior seeking a first career-track job or a freshman looking at a career option, the Career Center can help. It’s never too early or too late to plan for success. Career counseling Job search workshops On-campus interviews Mentor program Career expos Summer jobs • Part-time job listings • Work-study jobs • Career fairs • Reference library • Career decision classes • Internship programs Call us at: 346-3235 or visit our web site at: uocareer.uoregon.edu UNIVERSITY OF OREGON CAREER C E
