Free, confidential access to contraception boosts use among Ontario youth: study - Faculty of Health Sciences

Young people who are offered confidential and free access to prescription contraception methods are significantly more likely to use them, according to a new McMaster University study. The findings, published on Aug.18, 2025 in JAMA Pediatrics, offer real-world evidence that providing confidential, free access to contraception increases use of prescription contraception, especially long-acting reversible contraception (like IUDs). Access to contraception is an essential component of reproductive health care. The results are especially timely as Canada considers the future of a national pharmacare plan that would include universal free contraception. Researchers evaluated the impact of Ontario’s OHIP+ program, which provided free prescription medications to people under the age of 25 from January 2018 to March 2019, before the program was scaled back to exclude people with private insurance. The study examined both oral contraceptive pills (OCPs) and intrauterine devices (IUDs) and foun

Young people who are offered confidential and free access to prescription contraception methods are significantly more likely to use them, according to a new McMaster University study. The findings, published on Aug.18, 2025 in JAMA Pediatrics, offer real-world evidence that providing confidential, free access to contraception increases use of prescription contraception, especially long-acting reversible contraception (like IUDs). Access to contraception is an essential component of reproductive health care. The results are especially timely as Canada considers the future of a national pharmac