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Managed Care and Corporate Executives, Clinicians, and Women's Health Advocates Emphasize That a Significant Gap Exists Between Available Contraceptive Methods and Their Optimal Use, Resulting in Avoidable Unintended Pregnancies

Posted on: Friday, 26 May 2006, 12:00 CDT

BRONXVILLE, N.Y., May 26 /PRNewswire/ -- Managed care plans and payers do not provide sufficient attention to the costs and burdens of unintended pregnancy, according to a diverse group of health executives, employers, and clinicians. In a Consensus Statement released with the May 2006 issue of Managed Care Interface, this Managed Care Consensus Working Group acknowledged that "pregnancy is one of the top 5 expenditures for corporations employing women of childbearing age."

The Working Group members specified that opportunities do exist to help ease certain costs associated with "unintended pregnancies," which may lead to wanted or unwanted births, abortions, or less-than-optimal birth outcomes.

"Unintended pregnancies are associated with relatively low rates of prenatal care, which may result in greater utilization of neonatal care unit services, and sometimes long-term implications for the mothers and their families, in terms of worker productivity and socioeconomic potential," said the Working Group.

"Despite the attention paid to contraception over the decades, significant barriers exist that prevent optimal use of contraception and pregnancy management," stated Robert P. Navarro, PharmD, Chairman of the Working Group, and President of NavarroPHARMA, Cary, North Carolina. "These include education for women of childbearing age (especially teens, who are at highest risk for unintended pregnancy); high out-of-pocket costs for contraception; and the avoidance of a cost-minimization mentality within the health plan leadership, which could hinder the availability of contraceptive methods that are optimal in terms of cost and compliance for different women."

Maria Lenaz, MD, an Ob/Gyn, health plan medical director, and member of the Working Group, added, "Health plans must not only ensure that women receive appropriate prenatal care and have access to contraceptive coverage (in plans that do not have explicit policy restrictions against contraceptive products), but also to ensure that contraceptive products are utilized correctly. Contraceptive coverage is a complex, multifactoral issue and touches many sensitive religious tenets, health care policies, and societal issues."

This Consensus Statement addresses not only ways in which this gap between the availability of a wide range of contraceptive options and their optimal use can be closed, but also calls for "innovative partnerships" among stakeholders, including social systems, to better inform the public about how to obtain contraceptives and use them appropriately. This document outlines points of broad consensus that were reached among the working group participants, in the hope that health plans, employers, physicians, members, and other interested parties can develop specific policies and implementation strategies to improve contraceptive utilization and assist in family planning.

The development and publication of the Consensus Statement was supported by Ortho McNeil, Inc.

Managed Care Interface is the Official Journal of the Pharmacy and Therapeutics Society. It was first published in January 1988, and it is a premier publisher of original research, clinical reviews, pharmacy practice studies, and health economic investigations in the managed care industry. Published by Medicom International, Bronxville, New York, the Journal is sent to approximately 40,000 executives each month. The Journal's content is indexed in the following prestigious databases: MEDLINE, Embase, International Pharmaceutical Abstracts, and CINAHL.

If you are interested in receiving the full text of the Consensus Statement, please contact Stanton Mehr, Editor, at stan.mehr@medicomint.com, or at (914) 337-7878 ext. 241.

Managed Care Interface

CONTACT: Stanton R. Mehr of Managed Care Interface, +1-914-337-7878ext. 241

Source: PRNewswire

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