Family planning perspectives
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Comparative Study
Private physicians and the provision of contraceptives to adolescents.
Data from a national sample of private physicians show that 86 percent of obstetrician-gynecologists, general practitioners and pediatricians are willing to prescribe contraceptive methods to adolescent women. However, only 59 percent are willing to serve unmarried minors without parental consent. The obstetrician-gynecologists are more likely to provide contraceptives than the other two specialists, and are likely to have fewer policy restrictions. ⋯ Ninety percent of private physicians who prescribe contraceptives for adolescent women will prescribe the pill, but smaller proportions will make the diaphragm or IUD available (61 and 23 percent, respectively). Among the physicians surveyed, the average fee that an adolescent would have to pay for an initial contraceptive visit, including laboratory tests, is $37. Of those who accept teenage contraceptive patients, only 53 percent will accept Medicaid reimbursement and only one percent indicate that they will instead provide free services to adolescents who cannot afford to pay the fee.