College students have to dish out money left and right – dollars here and there for books, rent, parking, not to mention food. This year, students across the nation may also feel an emptiness in their wallets when paying for birth control.

Federal regulations from the Deficit Reduction Act of 2005 no longer allow drug companies to sell brand-name oral contraceptives at discounted prices to campus health centers.

“The [new] regulations actually started last year for WSU,” Health and Wellness pharmacist Mike Poch said. “Luckily, most of the name-brand contraceptives now are available in a generic form, which has helped lessen the impact of the cost.” WSU carries mostly generic brands. In fact, just one brand was affected by the new regulations. Ortho Tri-Cyclen Lo used to be $20 a cycle. The price went up to $30 per cycle.

Seventy to 80 percent of students also receive third-party insurance, Poch said. This means students typically end up paying between $0 to $15 per cycle for generic birth control. Since WSU provides generic birth control, students will continue to pay the same amount despite the changes.

There has not been an impact on birth control use either, Poch said. The same amount of people are getting birth control as there were before.

The act was designed to control mandatory spending with beneficiaries such as Medicare, Medicaid and Social Security. Along with lessening government spending, it is estimated that $40 billion will be saved from taxpayers’ money, amounting to approximately $300 per taxpayer, according to a White House news release from February 2006 when the act was signed into law.

Drug companies used to be allowed to sell medications to campus health centers around the nation at a lower cost than many retail pharmacies and other health care centers. Typically, when the campus health centers received the products at a discounted price, the difference was passed on to the students.

The new regulations are having a bigger impact at the University of Washington, according to the Seattle Post-Intelligencer. UW stocked up on birth control when it could buy the products at the discounted prices, but those stores were quickly running out in July, forcing many students to switch to cheaper alternatives.

At WSU, there are about 34 different oral contraceptives available at the student health center, many of which are the less expensive generic versions, ranging in cost up to $50 without insurance.

“There is not a significant difference between generic and name brand, sometimes just an added ingredient or slight variance in hormone levels,” Wal-Mart pharmacist Elizabeth Harrison said.

Switching to a generic brand is not always simple, however. Women should consider their options before switching oral contraceptives because not all birth control is the same. Frequently when women switch their pill, common side effects are headaches, breakthrough bleeding and sometimes pregnancy.

“The pills may have similar ingredients, but during the first month of the new birth control women should take extra precautions, as if they were starting the pill for the first time, by using a back-up method such as condoms,” Harrison said.

If money is an issue with obtaining birth control, there are many options available. Planned Parenthood offers free or low-cost birth control, and WSU Student Health Services participates with Take Charge, a program that is half-federal and half-state funded that can give students without health insurance free contraceptives.