Jake White is the vice president of Merchandising for Consumer Healthcare at CVS Health Corp. He discusses a series of steps CVS is taking to address period poverty as part of its HERe, Healthier Happens Together initiative.
What does period poverty mean and how does it affect women worldwide?
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Period poverty refers to the financial barriers that prevent low-income, financially unstable or unhoused individuals from accessing products needed during the menstrual cycle.
Period poverty can negatively affect women’s educational and career outcomes if they miss class or work due to lack of menstrual resources. It also can hinder their holistic physical and mental health.
For example, one in five teens in the U.S. have struggled to afford period products or not been able to afford them at all. Not having access to period products, which most women need every single month, can result in missing school and work, which has great economic and social adverse effects.
Period poverty can also result in mental health challenges. College students who experience monthly period poverty were more than twice as likely to report moderate/severe depression compared to students who never experienced period poverty. Two-thirds of the 16.9 million low-income women in the U.S. could not afford menstrual products in the past year, with a half of this needing to choose between menstrual products and food.
CVS Health announced it is taking actions to address period poverty as part of its HERe, Healthier Happens Together initiative. What actions is CVS Health taking?
CVS Health is taking several bold actions related to product pricing and paying the tax on menstrual products in twelve states, while providing women with greater access to affordable, accessible health care services, as part of our HERe, Healthier Happens Together platform. These include:
- Reducing the prices of CVS Health store brand period products in our core stores by 25%
- Paying the so-called menstrual tax on menstrual products in our front store in 12 states and partnering with national organizations who are working to eliminate the menstrual tax altogether in 26 states
- Taking a stance on the pink tax by ensuring fair and equitable pricing for men’s and women’s comparable products, like razors and shaving cream
- Offering new menstrual, contraception, and menopause services through MinuteClinic at CVS
- Launching new MinuteClinic Virtual Care services in most states seven days a week – for a variety of women’s health services ranging from general medical needs, from heart health and thyroid monitoring, to birth control consultations and depression screenings
Some of the steps including taking actions against the menstrual tax and pink tax. What is the difference between the two and how do they affect women’s expenses?
The menstrual tax is a tax in 26 states [as of Oct. 1], where period products are still assessed as a nonessential item and therefore can be subject to a tax on menstrual products. CVS is paying the cost of the so-called menstrual tax on menstrual products in 12 states, as there are laws in 13 states that prohibit any organization from covering the tax on any product. In Arizona, we are working through operational matters and hope to be able to cover the tax in the future. Additionally, CVS Pharmacy is collaborating with Period Law and PERIOD. [formerly Period.org], organizations whose mission is to eliminate these taxes altogether via government lobbying and grassroots efforts.
The pink tax is not an actual tax, but rather the idea of gender-specific pricing and that women often have to pay more for their products that are very similar to men’s products. At CVS, we are taking on the “Pink Tax” by ensuring fair and equitable pricing for women’s products, regardless of if the cost acquisition from suppliers is higher.
For years, we’ve taken a close look at the products we sell across our stores, and those that are marketed to men and women. This is something we’ve always done but we’re now proud to say we have implemented a formal process, including system updates and will evaluate and adjust prices regularly. At CVS, we’re committed to fair and equitable pricing and will confirm that prices are fair and equitable before they are placed on our shelves.
Even in 2022, there is a stigma surrounding conversations about periods. How does this initiative help fight this stigma and normalize talking about menstruation and period products?
The stigmas that women feel in general, related to their menstrual cycle, motherhood or other women-specific health conditions can affect multiple areas of a woman’s life and hinder them from receiving proper care – which further exacerbates the impact on their social, economic, physical and mental wellbeing.
Menstrual stigma can prevent women from speaking out about or obtaining timely care for their related medical problems. There are a myriad of diseases and conditions that can cause or manifest as heavy, painful, or irregular periods, including: Von Willebrand disease [a blood clotting disorder], endometriosis [abnormal endometrial tissue growth outside the uterus], and endometrial cancer [cancerous cells found in the uterus lining]. These can have delayed diagnoses because women are embarrassed to speak about their menstrual problems. With this lack of conversation, a delay in diagnosis and treatment raises the likelihood of more health problems later in life.
All of these issues are related and each represents significant barriers to wealth building and financial security for women. Women already earn less and retire with less income than men. Period poverty, the “so called” menstrual tax and the pink tax all make it that much more difficult to save, and achieve good health. With CVS Health taking specific actions in our retail stores, we’re addressing these issues to tackle both health and financial inequities.
What does the timeline for this initiative look like?
in October, CVS Pharmacy began paying the tax on all period products purchased in-store and online in 12 states and the rest of the rollout of this initiative is live now.
We have a long history of women’s health support, as well as a long history of making bold, industry-leading moves which is why our company is so well suited to take the actions we are talking about today. From being the first to remove tobacco from our stores in 2014 to introducing CVS Beauty Mark to challenge the beauty industry on the negative mental and physical health implications that Photoshopped images of women have on young girls and women, and committing the full-strength of our enterprise to address the critical and urgent health care needs stemming from the COVID-19 pandemic, CVS Health has long been a company that leads the way.
We bring a health equity lens to everything we do and work toward delivering better health outcomes for all. Addressing maternal health disparities, period poverty, improving access to contraception, and equity pricing for women’s health products are a few examples of our cross-enterprise efforts focused on advancing women’s health equity. We hope our bold moves help break down barriers and close gaps, while also inspiring other companies and our partners to follow our lead. We’re ready for change!
Claudia Chiappa is a PBN staff writer. You may contact her at Chiappa@PBN.com.
