In article >,
"Nancy Young" > wrote:

> Nancy2 wrote:

> > On Nov 12, 9:44 am, "Nancy Young" > wrote:

> >> Wonder if they cover birth *control* pills, which would seem
> >> a wiser investment as having babies is not cheap for the
> >> insurance company.
>
> > Here's the odd thing - along with Viagra, most companies cover in
> > vitro fertilization treatments. I really resent that. As far as I'm
> > concerned, "needing" Viagra is an ego thing,
>
> I completely fail to see why that would be covered as a
> medical expense. Goes to show, it was a huge fight to have
> birth control pills covered, but Viagra? No problem. Draw
> your own conclusion.

My conclusion is that we are working from a different set of "facts".
Birth control pills weren't covered before 1960 because they hadn't been
invented yet. As I remember, there was a terrible fight after that with
no connection to medical issues. People thought that if girls weren't
given the pill, then they wouldn't have sex. Bad idea. I don't think
it took that long before birth control pills were widely available.
Anybody with little money and no medical insurance could go to Planned
Parenthood and get free birth control pills. I believe our first
experience with this was in the early 70's. My memory about Viagra is
also different. It was a huge battle to get insurance coverage for
Viagra. I don't know if it is covered fully by every insurance company
yet.

> >and in vitro (or other
> > medical treatments for infertility) seems on a par with cosmetic
> > surgery.

I don't think it's on par with breast enhancement or a tummy tuck, but
some of it is just too darned expensive. My HMO doesn't fully cover it.
They cover half of certain things. I don't know what since it isn't
something we need personally. My HMO does cosmetic surgery, but the
patient pays the full cost.

> It does seem like an expense you'd have to pay for yourself
> if you decide to do it, as plastic surgery. Voluntary, in other
> words.

My father had plastic surgery. I talked to the surgeon. She basically
said if he hadn't had it done within two months, he would have died.
Not in two months, but whenever and wherever the cancer spread. He had
two surgeries, a week apart, one to remove the cancer, and then a week
later when the lab verified that she had got it all, another to graft
some skin over the surgery.

A little girl in my church was born with a cleft palate. I guess that's
plastic surgery. I guess it's voluntary, also. When I was a kid,
people who were born with a cleft palate just lived with it, their whole
lives. I imagine that limited their job prospects. I imagine that
reduced self-confidence. I worked with a woman with a cleft palate. It
was a hard life. She had three little kids, no job skills and her
husband had committed suicide.

--
Dan Abel
Petaluma, California USA