- CVS Health is reducing the price of store-bought products by 25%.
- As of October 5, the company also began paying sales tax on menstrual products to consumers in 12 states, most of which currently have a “tampon tax.”
- In the US today, one in four people have trouble finding menstrual products. Advocates stress that making them accessible and affordable is key to eradicating poverty.
CVS Health is cutting its prices menstrual stuff – and work to eliminate the “tampon tax” in other countries.
The pharmacy chain it was announced this week that it has reduced the price of CVS Health brand tampons, menstrual pads, liners and cups by 25%. In an email to USA TODAY on Thursday, a CVS Health representative confirmed that this will apply to all CVS Pharmacy locations nationwide.
CVS Health brand time products sold at retail price will be eligible for a discount – promotions or sales are not included, the company noted.
“Women have long faced obstacles on the road to better health — from affordability to discrimination,” Michelle Peluso, EVP and chief consumer officer for CVS Health and vice president of CVS Pharmacy, said in a statement sent to USA TODAY. “We hope that our actions help break down barriers and close gaps, while also encouraging other companies to follow our lead.”
As of October 5, the company also began paying sales tax applicable to menstrual products to consumers in 12 states, most of which currently have a “tampon tax”: Arkansas, Georgia, Hawaii, Louisiana, Missouri, South Carolina, Tennessee. , Texas, Utah, Virginia, Wisconsin and West Virginia.
According to the advocacy nonprofit Alliance for Period Supplies, Louisiana passed legislation to eliminate its tax on temporary products in June 2021 – and the bill went into effect in July 2022. Similar legislation has been passed recently Virginiawhere tax exemptions are set to begin next January.
However, there are 22 U.S. states that tax menstrual products – often as “non-essential” or luxury items – and/or have no legislation scheduled to eliminate the “tampon tax” starting in September, the Alliance for Period Supplies reports.
Time to recognize poverty:On Period Day, 1 in 4 have trouble buying menstrual products. 22 countries still pay tribute to them.
“We applaud CVS’ announcement to lower prices on period supplies and pay the tampon tax where they can,” Joanne Samuel Goldblum, CEO of the National Diaper Bank Network and the Alliance for Period Supplies, said in a statement. USA TODAY Thursday.
“At the Alliance for Period Supplies we are focused on ending period poverty in the US,” Goldblum added. “Eliminating the sales tax on period products is a step in the right direction and we are actively pushing for legislation to end the tampon tax in the 22 states (that) continue to impose sales taxes on essential items that people need to thrive.”
CVS has not been able to pay sales tax on menstrual products in all states that impose it because of laws in 13 states that prohibit organizations from paying sales tax on the product, a representative for CVS Health told USA TODAY — adding that the company is working on measures to block the tax in Arizona, another state where the period is being charged. tribute, another day.
Voices:America should get rid of the tampon tax. Girls, proper women.
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Especially in recent years, many have worked to eliminate the “tampon tax.” Twenty-three states and the District of Columbia have enacted laws to eliminate taxes there are products of the time. Five other states have no state sales tax. But there’s still a lot of work to do, supporters say.
Fight to end time poverty
Experts stress that making period products affordable is important to end period poverty, defined as the inability to access period products and/or access to adequate menstrual health education.
In the US today, one in four menstruating women struggle to buy products, according to the report Alliance for Period Supplies.
And a 2021 scholarship from the non-profit sponsor U by Kotex revealed that two out of five people have struggled to buy period products in their lives due to lack of money – an increase of 35% from the 2018 survey. Black, Latino and low-income respondents were among those most affected by time poverty, the study found.
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Other calls for improvement include making period products free in public bathrooms and providing adequate training to help work towards gender equality.
Seasonal products are “necessary and everyone should have access to them, just like basic food and shelter. It’s a human rights issue,” said Damaris Pereda, the nonprofit’s global director of programs. Period., previously told USA TODAY.
