Family planning experts are urging the federal government to fully subsidise long-acting reversible contraception after economic modelling showed boosting its use would save millions of dollars. "It was the best thing ever", says Tess Carruthers of her contraceptive implant.Credit:Kate Geraghty If Australian women used intrauterine devices (IUDs) or progesterone implants as enthusiastically as their European counterparts, the national net saving would be more than $75 million over five years, the study by Family Planning NSW found. The cost-benefit analysis investigated what would happen if Australia’s use of long-acting reversible contraception rose from its current rate of 12.5 per cent to the international benchmark of 14.8 per cent among women on the contraceptive pill and women at risk of unintended pregnancy who don’t use any contraception. Switching from the pill to long-acting reversible contraception would save each woman $114 to $157 per year, or $93 million over five years collectively, […]