Free Family Planning Services in Louisiana

Let's face it, times are tough in this economy. Mortgages or rent, electricity, gas, water, groceries...the list of things you have to sink money into every day seems awfully long. For those of us in Louisiana, there's the added worry of the approach of the hurricane season every year. So when it's time for a check up, we're all likely to feel the urge to put it off. No one relishes the idea of going to the doctor for normal reasons, and even less for us girls who hear the dreaded term "pap-smear." It's a necessary evil, but sadly one that many women are not able to squeeze into the budget. Even if you can pay for a checkup every once in a while, birth control pills are expensive.

Finding yourself in this position, you may feel frustrated. You may make too much money to get Medicaid but too little to pay for insurance. So what to do? Louisiana has a little secret, that a lot of women haven't been made aware of...

In 2005, the State of Louisiana and the Department of Health and Hospitals applied Center for Medicare and Medicaid Services for a Section 1115 Research and Demonstration Waiver. The result: the Take Charge Program.

So who can apply for the Take Charge Program?
All non-pregnant female residents of Louisiana, ages 19 to 44 who do not currently have Medicaid and who have not had a procedure to prevent pregnancy, can apply. The income limits are higher than those for Medicaid and are as follows:

Number in familyWeekly IncomeMonthly Income
1 $452 $1,805
2 $608 $2,429
3 $763 $3,052
4 $919 $3,675
5 $1,075 $4,299
6 $1,231 $4,922

It's also important to mention that this program has only a certain amount of acceptances allowed per year, so apply right away.

You cannot be in both the Take Charge Program and the Louisiana Medicaid Program, however you can have both private insurance and Take Charge, if your private insurance does not cover the full costs of family planning services.

What does Take Charge Cover?
It should be noted that Take Charge is not a Primary Care health plan. This means that your regular doctor's visits for checkups are not covered.

Take Charge covers:

• 4 yearly physical examinations or necessary re-visits
• Laboratory tests for the purpose of Family Planning
• Contraceptive Counseling
• Approved medications and supplies such as birth control pills, IUD's, patches, diaphragms, birth control injections, etc.

In other words, you should be able to get a pap smear once a year, be approved for a family planning method, have any labs that you may need, and get family planning supplies, all at no cost -- no co-payments, no enrollment fees, no premiums, and no deductibles.

You can attain an application at a local Louisiana public health clinic or from the website at http://www.dhh.louisiana.gov/offices/?ID=291 . You will be required to provide documentation to prove your last month's income. Be sure to have your social security number, as well as the social security numbers of anyone else living with you.

The program is great, and will help any family on a budget. Personally, I was paying $60 per month for ortho-tricyclin lo, and it was getting difficult to afford it. Even if you don't qualify for Take Charge, I encourage you to get your prescription birth control from a public health unit. Instead of paying $60, I paid $12. I had a 15 minute wait while I sat in a waiting area, instead of standing in a line at Walgreens for half an hour.

Take an hour out of your day to save your family hundreds of dollars every year. But even more than that, make your health a priority.