CVS Was Accidentally Charging Women For Birth Control

Thanks to Obamacare, any American woman with health insurance can get generic brand birth control free of charge. But due to a price coding error at pharmacy giant CVS, thousands of women haven't been able to take advantage of this contraceptive 'free-for-all'. After one of Representative Jackie Speier's (D) California [find out how to properly write this] staffers returned from CVS puzzled by the $20 co-pay she was asked to pay, Speier wrote a public letter to CVS's CEO demanding to know why this blunder occurred. As she expected, it wasn't just her staffer who was charged, but nearly 11 thousand other women, too.

The pharmacy giant responded and is currently working to remedy the situation. A CVS spokesperson told The Huffington Post that refund checks are on schedule to be mailed out to affected customers by October 1, 2014.

Serious props to Rep. Speier for the good catch. Who knows how many more women would have to dig into their pockets to be able to get the pregnancy-preventing pills they're legally entitled to.

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I'm an Associate Editor at the Business of Fashion, where I edit and write stories about the fashion and beauty industries. Previously, I was the brand editor at Adweek, where I was the lead editor for Adweek's brand and retail coverage. Before my switch to business journalism, I was a writer/reporter at PEOPLE.com, where I wrote news posts, galleries and articles for PEOPLE magazine's website. My work has been published on TheAtlantic.com, ELLE.com, MarieClaire.com, PEOPLE.com, GoodHousekeeping.com and in Every Day with Rachael Ray. It has been syndicated by Cosmopolitan.com, TIME.com, TravelandLeisure.com and GoodHousekeeping.com, among other publications. Previously, I've worked at VOGUE.com, ELLE.com, and MarieClaire.com.