ALERT, Women Everywhere: There's Now An Uber For Birth Control
The service can deliver your pills in two hours FLAT.
When you're on birth control pills, one of the most important things you can do is to not only take them every day, but to take them at the same time. Missing a dose can really mess things up, so you need to make sure you have a good supply on hand and don't run out. If you need emergency contraception, your need becomes even more urgent.
Nurx is an app where women in California and New York can get a prescription for oral contraceptives, patches, and rings, have them delivered by the following day, and it's free with insurance. For those without insurance, the app waives the consultation fee (which is covered by insurance) and can provide patients with birth control for about $15.
And starting this week, patients will have the ability to access preemptive emergency contraception through the app and delivered within two hours.
"Women should be able to access their birth control on their own terms. This is one reason why we created the Nurx app," Nurx co-founder Hans Gangeskar said.
While it's available only in New York and California, Nurx co-creators Hans Gangeskar and Dr. Edvard Engesaeth told MTV News that they plan to launch the app in Washington D.C., Illinois, and Washington state, and eventually expand nationwide.
"Access to birth control is still a major issue," Gangeskar and Engesaeth said. "Oftentimes, women have to take off work, visit the doctor, then visit the pharmacy as well. Nurx helps solve that problem and make it more convenient for women to get their birth control. And with Nurx, we provide a three-month supply of birth control instead of the usual one-month supply that's often provided."
Another great aspect to the Nurx app is that they aren't blindly sending you pills. When you first sign up, you give them your health and insurance information, and then select your preferred type and brand of birth control. A doctor reviews your health information and follows up with you if they have any questions or concerns. Once the doctor has thoroughly looked at your health information, they send the prescription to one of their partner pharmacies and the medicine is shipped directly to you.
In addition, to contraceptives, Truvada for PrEP (short for Pre-exposure prophylaxis) will be available through the Nurx app.
Truvada for PrEP is a prescription medicine that can be used to help reduce the risk of getting HIV infection when used together with safer sex practices, and is for adults who are at a high risk of getting HIV through sex.
"We were inspired to take action after learning that there are three million unintended pregnancies and 50,000 new HIV infections each year in the United States. After we came up with the idea, we felt compelled to take action," Gangeskar and Engesaeth explained.
For more information, check out this video from Nurx: