CVS will cut prices and cover the ‘pink tax’ on some period products. What is that?

Tanasia Kenney
Rich Pedroncelli/AP

Pads and tampons are pricey, with the average woman spending about $18,000 on period-related products in her lifetime, according to a 2015 HuffPost report.

The cost of pantyliners, pain pills and period-proof underwear can add up during that time of the month, limiting some women’s access to adequate menstrual care. That’s why CVS Health says it is dropping the price on its feminine care items and covering the so-called “pink tax” for consumers in some states.

The national drugstore chain said it will lower prices by 25% on all CVS-branded and Live Better menstrual products including tampons, pads, liners and menstrual cups starting Oct. 13.

The discount also extends to medicines for urinary tract infections, pregnancy tests and vaginal creams, a CVS spokesperson confirmed to TODAY.com.

On Oct. 5, the company began paying the sales tax on period products in a dozen states including Georgia, Missouri, South Carolina and Texas, according to the outlet. CVS said it’s working with organizations in other states where the law bars third parties from paying the sales tax on consumers’ behalf.

What’s the “pink tax?”

There’s often a price difference associated with buying personal care products for women compared to similar products for men, a phenomenon known as the “pink tax.”

Everyday items — from shampoo and razors to body wash and deodorant — are often priced higher for women and girls as part of a “system of discriminatory pricing on products and services” that’s gender-based, according to Bankrate.com.

A 2015 report by the New York City Department of Consumer Affairs compared nearly 800 gender-specific products and found those marketed to women cost an average of 7% more than comparable products for men.

Products for women were priced higher “in all but five of the 35 product categories analyzed,” the report showed.

Twenty-three states and Washington, D.C., do not tax period products, according to The Alliance for Period Supplies. But in 26 states, those products are not taxed as medical necessities, but rather as “luxuries,” according to U.S. News & World Report.

And the products are only getting pricier. In July, NielsenIQ reported that prices for tampons and pads surged 10.8% and 8.9%, respectively, compared to a year prior, due to inflation, KMTV reported.

“We are committed to ending gender-based price discrimination in our stores by eliminating the ‘pink tax,’” Joanne Armstrong, vice president and chief medical officer for Women’s Health and Genomics at CVS Health, and Joneigh Khaldun, vice president and chief health equity officer at CVS Health, wrote in an article for Fortune.

“If we want to achieve health equity for all communities, we must work together to fight period stigma and eliminate the economic and mental well-being burden of menstruation,” they said.

The company’s efforts to improve women’s access to period care include:

  • Working with national organizations to eliminate the “menstrual tax” and “pink tax” in 26 states

  • Expanding contraception, menstrual and menopause services via MinuteClinic at CVS

  • Adding new MinuteClinic Virtual Care services in most states to address several women’s health issues

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