forums : General Discussion

Is It Fair If Health Insurance Covers Viagra but not

Birth Control (i.e. "the pill")?

Re: Is It Fair If Health Insurance Covers Viagra but not

No

At least I have an answer for this. McCain had a senior moment with that question....

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=Q2y8dYwq01g


Not that difficult of a question dude!

Re: Is It Fair If Health Insurance Covers Viagra but not

^^yeah i wasn't trying to bring Presidential politics into it, but yeah it is an interesting question that i never thought about. I am trying to think of the counter arguement (sometimes i like arguing for the opposing side to my views). I guess u can say one is to help pro-create (if u wanna take a 'sex is only for pro-creation' arguement) and the other is inhibiting natures natural course. But that arguement is weak since like 98% of sexually active women have used some sort of contraceptive during sex.

Re: Is It Fair If Health Insurance Covers Viagra but not

Hells no.

Health insurance won't even provide for a lot of surgical procedures people need to live... if they'll fail that way, but provide boner pills, that is SEVERELY unethical.

Re: Is It Fair If Health Insurance Covers Viagra but not

But really, "sex is only for pro-creation" is religion-based view, not medical. Medical benefits should be based on medical need not religion. I think 18 year olds need to avoid getting pregnant a hell of a lot more than a 68 year old needs to get it up and the number of 18 year olds having sex is more than the number of 68 year olds alive. So if the need is there why is religion a part of my healthcare? If I want a moral check up I'll go to my priest but I'll be damned if I am gonna get a pap from the guy.

Re: Is It Fair If Health Insurance Covers Viagra but not

^^i guess the arguement would be that "viagra helps to cure a medical condition whereas taking a birth control pill does not". Yes people use viagra just to 'get up' or 'stay up', but at it's core (like oxycotin or other perscription drugs or even non-prescription drugs like Tylenol) helps deal with a medical condition. Of course then the arguement u could come back with is that we get polio shots not to get polio why not a preventative measure for not getting pregnant.

[ mc.xyz - 17 Jul 2008 16:16 ]

Re: Is It Fair If Health Insurance Covers Viagra but not

Yes actually that is exactly what I was going to say. There are two kinds of medicine, reactive and preventative. Birth control being the latter.

Re: Is It Fair If Health Insurance Covers Viagra but not

I don't think health insurance should cover s**t that people aren't willing to.

What I mean is that a lot of people want to get gastric bypass but not change their eating or exercise habits. These people, then, are liabilities to an insurance company. If an insurance company will cover that regardless, then I think there's an ethical problem on the part of the insurance company. It drives up rates for everyone else.

ED is a condition that results in part from bad health, which is largely connected to what you eat (over a long period of time) and other habits (i.e. smoking). I think the same deal should stand for that. ED would probably not be as likely a problem for people who exercise, eat healthy, and don't smoke.

So basically it's a generally preventable medical condition. If people won't do anything to preempt bad health, then I think they should get what's coming to them. That's the way the universe works. You reap what you sow.

**********
According to mc.xyz ...

^^i guess the arguement would be that "viagra helps to cure a medical condition whereas taking a birth control pill does not". Yes people use viagra just to 'get up' or 'stay up', but at it's core (like oxycotin or other perscription drugs or even non-prescription drugs like Tylenol) helps deal with a medical condition. Of course then the arguement u could come back with is that we get polio shots not to get polio why not a preventative measure for not getting pregnant.

**********

[ 4_.phrantek._4 - 17 Jul 2008 16:25 ]

Re: Is It Fair If Health Insurance Covers Viagra but not

Many many many medical conditions arise from not taking care of one's self properly including lack of excercise, poor diet, etc. etc.

None of these should be covered by insurance?

**********
According to 4_.phrantek._4 ...

If people won't do anything to preempt bad health, then I think they should get what's coming to them. That's the way the universe works. You reap what you sow.

**********

Re: Is It Fair If Health Insurance Covers Viagra but not

*in response to Phrantik*

...some people genuinely have eating disorders and cigarettes are proven to be addictive so i don't think it is clear cut. Plus cigarette smoke causes 2nd hand smoke which causes cancer so it even gets muddier. Also many people with 'bad eating' habits are poorer because their food lacks nutrition. don't think they should be in a sense punished because say their kid's school is not funded well and at lunch they get cookies and sodas (which soda companies lobby to get put in schools). *shrugs*

[ mc.xyz - 17 Jul 2008 16:35 ]

Re: Is It Fair If Health Insurance Covers Viagra but not

I agree there should be some kind of screening process in which people should prove that they are willing to make the lifestyle changes needed for their health before they can go for the quick fix.

Unfortunately that kind of health care takes a lot of time and man power. It costs the health care companies less money to give them meds than it does to teach people how to live right. Trust me, my mom is a diabetes educator and they are always trying to scrape together funds to keep the program running.

ED is caused by more things than just bad habbits though. I am all for the old dudes gettin' some lovin' and I woudn't want to deny them anything so I can get my BC for cheap but if we are talking about making lifestyle changes instead of medicine my only option is to not have sex. Is that really fair?

Re: Is It Fair If Health Insurance Covers Viagra but not

if your health insurance doesn't cover birth control you need a better health insurance plan.

Re: Is It Fair If Health Insurance Covers Viagra but not

Yeah, I've never heard of one having trouble getting birth control. *shrugs*

**********
According to eecue ...

if your health insurance doesn't cover birth control you need a better health insurance plan.
**********

Re: Is It Fair If Health Insurance Covers Viagra but not

^^idk cause i never bought "the pill" under my insurance, but i do know (as i am sure anyone with insurance thru their work) that some items you pay a co-pa percentage and some are fully covered. I am sure in this case, this is the case.^^

Re: Is It Fair If Health Insurance Covers Viagra but not

The Health Insurance company's are in bed with the government (no pun intended)..... The government needs more Clones for it's army, Viagra aid's them in this. Birth control only decreases the numbers of the Clone Army.

Also, if you have kids then your gonna need more heath coverage... so the Insurance company get's more money.

Re: Is It Fair If Health Insurance Covers Viagra but not

I honestly don't think so. If someone has to drink so much they pickle their liver, why should they get a new one when there are waiting lists of people who come down with terrible and unexpected diseases that also require a liver transplant?

People have to learn to be responsible for themselves in life... if it's more important to them to do something that they know is bad for them rather than change their lifestyles, why should anyone else take responsibility for them when they get what they have spent so much time earning?... Pity? Empathy?

It's hard to have empathy for a person who doesn't legitimately care about themselves... It's not that I don't think it's sad to see people waste away because they don't care about themselves, it's just that I don't see why they should get rewarded with life when they work so hard to kill themselves.

Acknowledged that alcoholism and other addictions are diseases. Still up to the individual to seek treatment...

**********
According to djwhizard ...

Many many many medical conditions arise from not taking care of one's self properly including lack of excercise, poor diet, etc. etc.

None of these should be covered by insurance?

Re: Is It Fair If Health Insurance Covers Viagra but not

I'm sure you're right, Melissa.

Still, Kaiser Permanente (arguably a pretty bad provider - they don't even have contact isolation in their facilities, Cindy told me that when she worked there they put an AIDS patient in the same room as a pneumonia patient!) is seeing that preventative medicine is cheaper than intensive care... which is probably why they're starting to put more money into that.

I think your comparison of boner pills vs. birth control is a bit apples-to-oranges. It's one thing for some old dude to get a boner vs. you trying not to have a baby... I feel the reasons for a woman wanting to decide if and when she gives birth are more legitimate than any reason a guy could give for wanting to get it up. Pregnancy has a much greater impact on a human body than impotency.

Not that I don't think old people shouldn't get laid (it's great as long as I don't have to watch! ) - it's just that I think insurance should be more responsible about what they'll pay for, and people shouldn't expect to be rewarded for irresponsibility. Hell, my cousin had 63 degree curvature scoliosis and they denied her spinal surgery for almost a year. There was nothing she could do about having scoliosis - but most of the terrible physical conditions we get into are, for the most part, preventable.

Nod to Chris about not being provided healthy food. I recognize that hormone-laden food plays a part in the increasing obesity trend, and that corporate sponsorship for school food programs has something to do with that... I think that should be a reasonable factor to include in the screening process Melissa mentioned. I also think that school districts should exercise more care when finding providers.

**********
According to formerlymelicious ...

I agree there should be some kind of screening process in which people should prove that they are willing to make the lifestyle changes needed for their health before they can go for the quick fix.

Unfortunately that kind of health care takes a lot of time and man power. It costs the health care companies less money to give them meds than it does to teach people how to live right. Trust me, my mom is a diabetes educator and they are always trying to scrape together funds to keep the program running.

ED is caused by more things than just bad habbits though. I am all for the old dudes gettin' some lovin' and I woudn't want to deny them anything so I can get my BC for cheap but if we are talking about making lifestyle changes instead of medicine my only option is to not have sex. Is that really fair?
**********