An IUD can cost up to $1,800 without insurance, according to Aspen Public Radio.
The pilot, called FreeBC, is run by the national nonprofit Upstream USA and funded by Upstream's private and institutional donors. It launched in May and has served 500 patients statewide, Aspen Public Radio reports.
The goal, according to Upstream digital director Nita Stella, is to "make sure that birth control access is simple."
Here's how it works, per Aspen Public Radio. Patients learn about their options on the FreeBC website, then pick a method. If it's shippable, like the pill or ring, they set up a virtual appointment through Pandia Health and the medication is mailed to their door. If it requires an in-person visit, like an IUD or implant, FreeBC connects them with a local partner clinic. FreeBC covers all patient costs for up to a year.
Insurance isn't required. According to Ms. Magazine, the site may ask for insurance information if a patient has it, to stretch FreeBC's resources further, but having insurance is not a requirement. The program is currently available only in Colorado, with plans to expand to more states, Ms. reports. Aspen Public Radio says it's open to any Colorado resident, and Stella said the hope is to reach uninsured people, whose numbers are growing amid Medicaid cuts.
"Those that are uninsured or temporarily uninsured or have high copay challenges, they are just not seeking contraception care," Stella said.
Some Colorado counties have a particular need. Aspen Public Radio reports that Eagle, Garfield and Pitkin counties all have contraceptive access gaps, according to a national analysis from the reproductive health nonprofit Power to Decide, which defines the gap as a misalignment between need and availability of contraception.
To close that gap for long-term methods, Upstream partnered with providers like Mountain Family Health Centers. Physician Anneliese Heckert has practiced at the Mountain Family clinic in Glenwood Springs for 15 years, but never learned to insert IUDs because her Catholic residency restricted the procedure. Through an Upstream training program, she and her colleagues learned to insert IUDs and implants, and the clinic became a FreeBC partner.
"The patients who have come in have been super grateful, and everything has so far worked seamlessly," Heckert said. The partnership has also helped providers, she added: because the site offers educational information, patients arrive at appointments more informed and need less consultation time.
Heckert has a caveat, though. She sees FreeBC as a helpful way to fill gaps left by dwindling federal resources, but doesn't think privately funded projects should be a long-term solution.
"Private funding could help all different types of healthcare," she said. "[But] I hope that it does not come to that. I feel like we, as a society, should probably ask for more from our government."
After the one-year pilot, Upstream will consider continuing coverage for patients and expanding to other states, Aspen Public Radio reports. Stella said she'd like other organizations to follow its lead. "There's no exclusivity in our mind," she said.