Opted out of Acorn Books? Don’t breathe a sigh of relief yet because Health Services has recently announced, in collaboration with Purdue Pharma: Acorn Meds! Haverford’s medication rental program that promotes inclusion by letting students break their bones without breaking the bank. 

What are the details of Acorn Meds, you might ask? It is a semester-by-semester program that allows students to pay upfront for a full rainbow of pills and elixirs. In an effort to bridge the gap between the expensive U.S. Healthcare system and the needs of our low-income students, Acorn Meds only costs $4,000 a semester! (In addition to the $2,000 health insurance premium.) Students have access to all the possible meds they could need or want, from basic pain relievers like Tylenol to meds used in more advanced classes, such as LSD for neuroscience majors.

While this all sounds amazing in theory, the Consensus asked students how they felt about the new program, and some expressed concerns. 

English major Regina Marijuana (known by her friends as Angel Dust), shared, “I’m worried about the practicality of the program for someone like me. Unlike STEM majors who would probably use Acorn Meds to buy drugs for their experiments, I usually only go to Health Services to get bandaids for my paper cuts from War and Peace. The thousands of dollars a semester feels like a waste.”

We also spoke with Director of Health Services, Kathy McAcorn, about the logistics of the program. “Once you’ve shopped for your classes and have a sense of your stress level for the semester, students can fill out our online form and come pick up their rented study drugs at their convenience. In an effort to keep our prices low, we only distribute used medication; at the end of the semester, we ask that you return your unused medication so it can be made available to another student in the future. In an effort to be eco-conscious, we ignore all expiration dates, thus never producing any trash.” She added, “I often get questions about if students can buy the meds instead of renting them. While we don’t recommend it, that is an option for all our products, including opioids, which seem to be the most popular meds that people want to permanently buy.”

If you are still hesitant about this amazing program, there is the option to opt-out. If you’d like to do so, follow these steps:

1. Go to the Health Services page of the Haverford website and scroll down Acorn Meds FAQs.
2. Click on the question: “Will I die if I opt out?”
3. Click on “It’s worth the risk I guess”
4. Put it all of your health information including vaccinations, mother’s maiden name, and social security number 
5. Schedule an appointment with your doctor so they can fill out the necessary paperwork
6. Submit it through your Haverford Health Portal
7. Done!*

*A refund will be issued within 2 years, and can only be used to opt into Acorn Books.