CVS Health has announced it will take steps to lower prices on feminine products to counteract what it calls “period poverty” experienced by women who can’t afford the cost each month.
A recent CVS Health survey showed 45% of menstruating women are regularly concerned about how they will afford tampons and sanitary pads. For women who can’t fit these items into their budget, it can lead to missing work or school, the company said. In an announcement Wednesday, CVS Health said it will lower prices on their own brand of period products by 25%.
In addition to the lower prices, the company will also absorb the sales taxes on menstrual products purchased at their stores in Georgia and 11 other states, automatically deducting it at checkout. The company also said it will work with national organizations to eliminate the sales tax completely on these products in 26 states, including Georgia.
Women have known for some time that products marketed specifically to women tend to be more expensive than those marketed to men — what’s known as a “pink tax.” CVS Health also said it is working to ensure equitable pricing for men’s and women’s comparable products like razors and shaving cream to further tackle the pink tax.
In other work to address women’s health issues, CVS Health is offering new menstrual, contraception, and menopause services through MinuteClinic at CVS, including Virtual Care services in most states seven days a week.
“A longstanding ‘one-size-fits-all’ approach to health care means that many women’s health challenges are historically unrecognized or under-appreciated,” said Jake White, Vice President of Merchandising and Consumer Health Care, CVS Health in a statement. “Women experience conditions that are unique to their physiology and life stage, as well as those that are more common in, expressed in and treated differently for women of all ages.”
White also noted “women face serious health care gaps, from systemic barriers created by high health care costs and access issues to health challenges related to a greater risk of chronic conditions.”
Additional information: www.cvshealth.com/womens-health.
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