Health

CVS pharmacists can now prescribe birth control in Massachusetts

All 400 CVS locations across the state will now offer birth control prescriptions.

CVS pharmacists can now prescribe birth control across Massachusetts. David Paul Morris

September 12, 2024

1 minute to read

Pharmacists at CVS locations in Massachusetts will now be able to prescribe birth control, the company announced on Thursday.

State lawmakers allotted for a statewide birth control prescription service as part of the 2024 Massachusetts State Budget. Representative Lindsay Sabadosa of Northampton said Massachusetts patients “deserve” access to birth control.

“With the addition of pharmacist-prescribed contraception in Massachusetts, we are putting choice back in the patients’ hands and giving them options in how, where, and when they get their contraception,” Sabadosa said in Thursday’s announcement.

The company described in Thursday’s announcement what the prescription process will look like. A patient can visit a CVS pharmacy and ask for a birth control consultation with a pharmacist, after which the pharmacist would conduct a health screening. A consultation will cost $39, whether or not the patient receives a prescription, CVS said. If eligible based on the screening, CVS said, the pharmacist will review different kinds of birth control with the patient and determine which option is the best fit.

CVS stressed the importance of increasing birth control access in America, pointing to what the company called “contraceptive deserts.” Nearly 20 million American women live in areas with insufficient access to birth control methods, advocates say. The company said its hopes the new birth control prescription service will help “close the gap.”

Ten other states currently offer birth control prescriptions administered by CVS: California, Hawaii, Idaho, Michigan, Minnesota, Montana, Nebraska, South Dakota, Washington, and Wisconsin.