64% of women with low incomes do not use reimbursed contraception.
- Only 36% of women with modest incomes use a reimbursed contraceptive, compared to 46% of patients with medium or high incomes.
- At the age of 20 to 24, people with low income use fewer oral contraceptives and rely more on implants.
- These disparities in use of reimbursed contraceptives are caused by the difficulty of obtaining an appointment and administratively maintaining health coverage.
IUD, implant, pill, diaphragm… For young women under 26, these contraceptives are available in pharmacies on medical prescription and without advance payment. With regard to patients aged over 26, these methods of contraception are covered at 65% by Health Insurance under the usual conditions. Two brands of condoms are also reimbursed at 100% without a medical prescription for those under 26, or 60% with a prescription for those over 26.
11% of participants aged 15 to 49 had low income
“Even with full health care coverage for low-income women in France, inequalities persist in the use of reimbursed contraceptives,” according to the National Institute of Demographic Studies (INED) and the National Institute of Health and Medical Research (Inserm). In a recent study, they revealed that reimbursed contraceptives are less accessible for women with modest incomes. To reach this conclusion, the two institutes examined data from 14.8 million women aged 15 to 49 living in France in 2019. Among them, 11% lived below the monetary poverty line. Next, the team analyzed participants’ use of reimbursed contraceptives, including oral contraceptives, copper intrauterine devices (copper IUD), levonorgestrel intrauterine system (LNG-IUS), and implants. .
Only 36% of precarious women use reimbursed contraceptives
Despite reimbursement, only 36% of precarious women use a reimbursed contraceptive, compared to 46% of women with average or high incomes. “This at all ages of reproductive life.” According to the results, women with modest incomes, aged 20 to 24, use less oral contraceptives (23% versus 38%) and use implants more than those with medium or high incomes (8% versus 4%). . At the age of 45 to 49, those with low income turned less to the hormonal IUD (6% compared to 14%).
Difficulties in accessing contraceptive prescribers in question
According to the team, the financial cost is not the only obstacle to access to contraception for vulnerable women. She believes that other non-financial barriers may be at the origin of these disparities in use, such as difficulty obtaining an appointment and administratively maintaining health coverage. This leads patients to choose non-reimbursed contraceptives so as not to have to consult a doctor or midwife to benefit from contraception. “A thorough understanding of the barriers to contraceptive use is critically important to enable women to make informed choices about the spacing and timing of their pregnancies,” concluded INED and Inserm.
