# Do more insurance companies cover Viagra over Birth Control Pills? **URL:** \ **Category:** Great Debates\ **Created:** [June 19, 2007, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-more-insurance-companies-cover-viagra-over-birth-control-pills/408610 "2007-06-19T17:20:37Z")\ **Posts on this page:** 20\ **Page:** 1
**Author:** ![Incubus](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/i/c68b51/32.png) [@Incubus](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Incubus)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 5:20pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-more-insurance-companies-cover-viagra-over-birth-control-pills/408610/1 "2007-06-19T17:20:37Z")
Every now and then I’ll hear someone grumble about how their insurance doesn’t cover birth control pills, but do cover Viagra, and how unfair is that? However, casual searches I’ve done indicated the opposite- insurance companies are more likely to cover birth control pills than Viagra. I would assume there are obvious reasons for this- preventing pregnancy is cost-effective for the insurance company, and on top of that birth control pills have been around much longer. I’m sure the prevalence of generics helps keep costs down. FTR, my own insurance covers BCPs but NOT Viagra. In fact, a bottle of 6 little blue pills costs the equivalent of a year’s supply of (covered under prescription plan) birth control pills. ---
**Author:** ![Kimstu](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/k/ecd19e/32.png) [@Kimstu](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Kimstu)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 5:49pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-more-insurance-companies-cover-viagra-over-birth-control-pills/408610/2 "2007-06-19T17:49:29Z")
We went through this and a bunch of related issues in [this recent Pit thread](http://boards.straightdope.com/sdmb/showthread.php?t=415424), but you’ll have to read it all to disentangle the information from the mere venting. (I could have read it all myself and disentangled them for you, but I was too lazy, sorry.) ---
**Author:** ![Renob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8c91f0/32.png) [@Renob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renob)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 6:57pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-more-insurance-companies-cover-viagra-over-birth-control-pills/408610/3 "2007-06-19T18:57:16Z")
From the little bit of research I’ve done in this area, some companies do cover Viagra if there is an underlying medical need for it. Even then, though, most companies that I’ve looked at will only cover a small fraction of its cost. The coverage of birth control pills also varies, but in general it seems that most insurance companies cover it to some extent and some pay quite a bit of the cost. From what I can tell, anyone who complains about insurance companies favoring Viagra over birth control pills is full of crap. ---
**Author:** ![sinjin](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/ebca7d/32.png) [@sinjin](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/sinjin)\ **Post date:** [June 19, 2007, 11:51pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-more-insurance-companies-cover-viagra-over-birth-control-pills/408610/4 "2007-06-19T23:51:59Z")
Maybe what they mean is that their insurance company covers Viagra but not BCP for that individual. I imagine it would be an uphill struggle to convince your claims adjustor that they should pay both for your little blue pills _and_ for your little multi-colored pills. I suppose working under the logic that if both of you are taking as many pills as possible, there’s no possible way a baby is going to make it out of there alive. ---
**Author:** ![Fear\_Itself](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/fear_itself/32/19637_2.png) [@Fear\_Itself](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Fear_Itself)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 12:22am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-more-insurance-companies-cover-viagra-over-birth-control-pills/408610/5 "2007-06-20T00:22:17Z")
Most insurance companies cover Viagra if you have a diagnosis of pulmonary hypertension, [which it is also approved for](http://www.webmd.com/news/20050608/viagra-ingredient-okd-for-lung-problem). ---
**Author:** ![cookeze](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/c/e19b73/32.png) [@cookeze](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/cookeze)\ **Post date:** [June 20, 2007, 11:06pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-more-insurance-companies-cover-viagra-over-birth-control-pills/408610/6 "2007-06-20T23:06:48Z")
How much money are we talking about here? Being male, I wouldn’t know what birth control pills cost now. But 37 years ago I remember buying them for the wife and they were quite reasonable. Three bucks a month, I think. ---
**Author:** ![ladyfoxfyre](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/ad7895/32.png) [@ladyfoxfyre](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/ladyfoxfyre)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 1:56am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-more-insurance-companies-cover-viagra-over-birth-control-pills/408610/7 "2007-06-21T01:56:49Z")
From my personal experience in pharmacy, I have seen only a small fraction of companies cover Viagra/Cialis/Levitra, and only for a limited quantity. Typically 6 per 30 days, and at the highest copay available. I have only once seen a company reject birth control, normally it’s a situation where a particular expensive brand is not on their formulary and the company would prefer they switch to a cheaper type. I’ve never seen any company outright reject birth control pills. YMMV. -foxy ---
**Author:** ![eleanorigby](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/e/ee7513/32.png) [@eleanorigby](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/eleanorigby)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 2:27am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-more-insurance-companies-cover-viagra-over-birth-control-pills/408610/8 "2007-06-21T02:27:08Z")
Then times have changed for the better. In the 80s and early 90s, I had to pay for my BCP–no insurance coverage for them at all. ---
**Author:** ![brickbacon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@brickbacon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brickbacon)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 5:42am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-more-insurance-companies-cover-viagra-over-birth-control-pills/408610/9 "2007-06-21T05:42:05Z")
[QUOTE=Renob] From what I can tell, anyone who complains about insurance companies favoring Viagra over birth control pills is full of crap. [/QUOTE] There are plenty of articles that back up this claim to varying extents. [1.](http://www.medicinenet.com/script/main/art.asp?articlekey=51391) > [@](#): > > rickson is challenging one of the longest-standing disparities in medicine. She thinks it’s wrong that the health insurance plans offered by so many **companies across the country provide coverage for drugs like Viagra for men but don’t cover birth control pills and other contraceptives.** And she thinks changes are long overdue. > > To try to close this gender gap, Erickson volunteered to be the lead plaintiff in a class action lawsuit filed last month by Planned Parenthood – the first case ever seeking to force an employer to include contraceptives in its health plan. While the lawsuit targets only Bartell, it could pave the way for similar suits against every company in the United States that provides similar prescription coverage to its employees but fails to cover contraceptives. [snip] > > Three-quarters of American women of childbearing age rely on employer-sponsored plans for their health coverage, according to the Alan Guttmacher Institute, a research group that works to broaden access to family planning services. **Yet half of all large group-insurance plans do not cover any form of prescription contraception, and only a third cover the Pill. While most HMOs do cover oral contraception, only about 40% cover all five of the FDA-approved prescription birth control methods available in this country**. [2.](http://salem-news.com/articles/may162007/contraception_bill_051607.php) > [@](#): > > The Oregon Senate today passed House Bill 2700, legislation that will require birth control coverage in employee health insurance plans that offer prescription drug coverage and provide access to emergency contraception in the emergency room for women who are victims of sexual assault. [3.](http://www.fwhc.org/health/viagra.htm) > [@](#): > > Yet despite these contrasts, nearly half of approximately 300,000 men who seek renewed sexual vigor via Viagra each week are being fully or partially reimbursed by their health insurers. Additionally, insurers are reimbursing up to 73 percent of impotence patients using less sexy treatments such as Caverject, which requires an injection in the urethra. Medicaid programs in at least 10 states now “guarantee satisfying sex for the impotent poor.” States such as Arkansas, Florida and Maryland subsidize 4 to 6 medicinal erections per month, while Utah covers 10 (to help men “approach normality,” said Duane Park, Utah’s Medicaid drug utilization reviewer). Viagra seekers in Montana must merely cover a $2 copayment typically required for prescription medications. > > Compare the erection-in-a-bottle with the basic contraceptive needs of all heterosexually active women who do not wish to become pregnant. While many health insurers are guaranteeing free or low-cost romps to men, they are by and large denying most women the contraceptive coverage that is a fundamental health care necessity for 20 - 30 years of their adult lives (the alternative being, on average, a potential 8 - 15 pregnancies in a woman’s lifetime). According to the Alan Guttmacher Institute, 33 million American women are in need of contraceptive services and supplies, yet most women using birth control pay for it themselves. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) notes that two-thirds of U.S. women of childbearing age rely on private, employer-related plans for their health coverage. **While 90% of these health plans cover prescription drugs and devices, a large majority exclude prescription contraceptives from coverage. Only 33 percent of large group health plans cover the birth control pill. Other contraceptive methods are even less financially accessible.** Is it any wonder that women of childbearing age pay 68% more in out-of-pocket medical expenses than their male counterparts? [4.](http://www.ukmedix.com/viagra/viagra-birth-control.cfm) Talks about a specific insurance company that covers Viagra but not birth control. Many of the articles you will find while googling are dated (from about 2002), but the discrepancy was there in the recent past. Now, it seems that at least half the states have passed laws mandating the coverage of birth control, in part because Viagra was covered. While it seems less true today, there are still many women who have to pay for their own birth control. ---
**Author:** ![suranyi](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/e36b37/32.png) [@suranyi](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/suranyi)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 3:42pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-more-insurance-companies-cover-viagra-over-birth-control-pills/408610/10 "2007-06-21T15:42:06Z")
As a matter of fact I just got birth control pills for my wife yesterday. Almost completely covered by our insurance. (It cost about $2.50 for a month’s supply.) Ed ---
**Author:** ![Renob](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/r/8c91f0/32.png) [@Renob](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Renob)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 4:16pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-more-insurance-companies-cover-viagra-over-birth-control-pills/408610/11 "2007-06-21T16:16:02Z")
**brick** , thanks for the articles. They seem long on anecdotal evidence and short on facts, though. The only one that tried to quantify the issue was from 1998 and had no footnotes, so I was unable to check to see if the statistics were true. I’m not saying that some insurance companies exclude birth control pills and pay for Viagra. What I am saying is that when I have checked into it (and I have not made a full-scale study of it), the insurance companies I have looked at only cover Viagra needed for medical reasons (and these companies only paid a fraction of the cost) and they covered birth control to some extent (some subsidized it much more heavily than others). From what I can tell (and your articles do nothing to dissuade me of my belief), the notion that there is widespread coverage of Viagra along with widespread non-coverage of birth control is false. Of course, that also gets us into the debate about what the proper role of health insurance should be. Insurance, no matter what kind, should really only cover high cost, low probability instances (like car insurance). It should not cover routine things. My opinion is that if you want birth control, you should pay for it yourself. If you want Viagra, you should pay for that, too. Neither of these should fall under the coverage of insurance. If they do, it’s not really “insurance,” it’s “making someone else subsidize your drug choices.” But that’s probably another debate. . . ---
**Author:** ![WhyNot](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/w/c77e96/32.png) [@WhyNot](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/WhyNot)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 4:24pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-more-insurance-companies-cover-viagra-over-birth-control-pills/408610/12 "2007-06-21T16:24:01Z")
[QUOTE=cookeze] How much money are we talking about here? Being male, I wouldn’t know what birth control pills cost now. But 37 years ago I remember buying them for the wife and they were quite reasonable. Three bucks a month, I think. [/QUOTE] Until someone with a more current stat comes along: 15 years ago they were around $25 a month, and my insurance covered only a little bit of it or not at all, I don’t remember. I just remember budgeting $25 a month for them out of pocket. ---
**Author:** ![Antinor01](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/a/ecae2f/32.png) [@Antinor01](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Antinor01)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 4:34pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-more-insurance-companies-cover-viagra-over-birth-control-pills/408610/13 "2007-06-21T16:34:54Z")
Another factor to keep in mind, it may not be the insurance company making the call. Large employers have a lot of discretion in what goes in the plan and what doesn’t. ---
**Author:** ![Ludovic](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/l/7ab992/32.png) [@Ludovic](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Ludovic)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 4:54pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-more-insurance-companies-cover-viagra-over-birth-control-pills/408610/14 "2007-06-21T16:54:45Z")
[QUOTE=Renob] Of course, that also gets us into the debate about what the proper role of health insurance should be. Insurance, no matter what kind, should really only cover high cost, low probability instances (like car insurance). It should not cover routine things. My opinion is that if you want birth control, you should pay for it yourself. If you want Viagra, you should pay for that, too. Neither of these should fall under the coverage of insurance. If they do, it’s not really “insurance,” it’s “making someone else subsidize your drug choices.” But that’s probably another debate. . . [/QUOTE] I dunno, it can be a win-win for the insurance purchaser and the provider, since the insurance companies might not pay as much as the individual would for the drugs. Whether that’s the case here, I don’t know. It’s a loss, of course, for the people who don’t need that coverage and are stuck with it as their only plan, but people who don’t want that coverage can choose another plan, sometimes. ---
**Author:** ![DiosaBellissima](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/d/a8b319/32.png) [@DiosaBellissima](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/DiosaBellissima)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 5:14pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-more-insurance-companies-cover-viagra-over-birth-control-pills/408610/15 "2007-06-21T17:14:21Z")
[QUOTE=WhyNot] Until someone with a more current stat comes along: 15 years ago they were around $25 a month, and my insurance covered only a little bit of it or not at all, I don’t remember. I just remember budgeting $25 a month for them out of pocket. [/QUOTE] Mine is $65 for 3 months worth and that’s with ok insurance. I don’t take a generic brand either though, so that may factor in to the cost. At the university clinic, various forms of BC pills are available for $20 a month (my understanding is that the clinic is simultaneously covered in our tuition as well as by MediCal). My same birth control seems to go for anywhere from $25-$35 a month on various online pharmacies. Then again, I’ve had friends that were told because of their age, insurance status, and combined household income (thanks, parents!), they needed to shell out almost $60 a month for 23 little pills. ---
**Author:** ![Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/tastes_of_chocolate/32/3232_2.png) [@Tastes\_of\_Chocolate](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Tastes_of_Chocolate)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 8:00pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-more-insurance-companies-cover-viagra-over-birth-control-pills/408610/16 "2007-06-21T20:00:45Z")
My BC is $47/month if I pay for the whole thing, or $40 if I only have to pay the co-pay. So I suppose you could say that my insurance covers it. For the hassle of using the insurance (mostly being limited to buying 1 month at a time) I’ve considered paying the other $7 and buying when/where I want. ---
**Author:** ![Zsofia](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/z/7bcc69/32.png) [@Zsofia](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Zsofia)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 9:45pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-more-insurance-companies-cover-viagra-over-birth-control-pills/408610/17 "2007-06-21T21:45:49Z")
Mine is about $35 a month, of which my insurance pays a little - I have a seperate pharmacy deductable and a low allowable amount, so it’s really pretty crappy. After I make the deductable it’s about $28. ---
**Author:** ![susan](https://sea3.discourse-cdn.com/straightdope/user_avatar/boards.straightdope.com/susan/32/17537_2.png) [@susan](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/susan)\ **Post date:** [June 21, 2007, 10:37pm UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-more-insurance-companies-cover-viagra-over-birth-control-pills/408610/18 "2007-06-21T22:37:54Z")
I have never had insurance that covered BCPs, even when prescribed (as I take them) for hormone regulation rather than birth control. As of January they will be covered. My BCPs cost $20/cycle. ---
**Author:** ![brickbacon](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/b/898d66/32.png) [@brickbacon](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/brickbacon)\ **Post date:** [June 22, 2007, 1:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-more-insurance-companies-cover-viagra-over-birth-control-pills/408610/19 "2007-06-22T01:16:37Z")
[QUOTE=Renob] **brick** , thanks for the articles. They seem long on anecdotal evidence and short on facts, though. The only one that tried to quantify the issue was from 1998 and had no footnotes, so I was unable to check to see if the statistics were true. [/QUOTE] Fair enough, but the fact that dozens of state have enacted legislation to mandate insurance companies cover birth control proves the first part of the claim is/was true. [QUOTE=Renob] I’m not saying that some insurance companies exclude birth control pills and pay for Viagra. What I am saying is that when I have checked into it (and I have not made a full-scale study of it), the insurance companies I have looked at only cover Viagra needed for medical reasons (and these companies only paid a fraction of the cost) and they covered birth control to some extent (some subsidized it much more heavily than others). From what I can tell (and your articles do nothing to dissuade me of my belief), **the notion that there is widespread coverage of Viagra along with widespread non-coverage of birth control is false**. [/QUOTE] Ah, If you were only so reasonable in your first post. [QUOTE=Renob] From what I can tell, anyone who complains about insurance companies favoring Viagra over birth control pills is full of crap. [/QUOTE] No, they are not full of crap assuming they are/were complaining about a disparity that apparently existed to some extent. [Here](http://media.www.utahstatesman.com/media/storage/paper243/news/2003/02/12/Features/Insurance.Companies.Cover.Viagra.But.Not.Birth.Control-367485.shtml) is another article from 2003 which states the following: > [@](#): > > Without insurance, birth control can cost $360 per year for oral contraceptives; $180 for Depo-Provera, an injection administered every three months; $450 for Norplant, six plastic implants inserted under the skin of the upper arm; and $240 for an intrauterine device, according to [www.covermypills.com](http://www.covermypills.com), an informational site about contraceptives. > > **The site also states that more than 50 percent of insurance plans cover Viagra, at $10 per pill, while only about one-third cover contraceptives.** > > The cost for insurance companies to cover birth control would be far cheaper than the costs of all the hospital bills, prenatal fees and labor and delivery expenses associated with an unwanted pregnancy. So there was a point, not too long ago, where it could reasonably be argued that insurance companies “favored” ED pills over BC. [This](http://www.covermypills.org/facts/) up to date website states the following: > [@](#): > > A study released in 2004 indicates that contraceptive coverage in employer-purchased plans improved dramatically between 1993 and 2002. The proportion of typical plans covering the full range of reversible contraceptive methods tripled from 28% to 86%, and the proportion covering no method at all plummeted from 28% to 2%. So the situation wrt employee insurance plans is much better now than at the time Viagra hit the market, but many women still fall through the cracks. While I am sure that the insurance companies that cover ED pills and not birth control are not the majority, it doesn’t mean they don’t exist, and it doesn’t mean someone who complains about them is full of crap. Especially since those same people were pushed for legislation mandating coverage of BC, thus eliminating the disparity that did exist at one time. A lot has changed in the last decade, so it is important view the complaints that were made in context, and understand that the claim did once have merit. ---
**Author:** ![Shalmanese](https://avatars.discourse-cdn.com/v4/letter/s/45deac/32.png) [@Shalmanese](https://boards.straightdope.com/u/Shalmanese)\ **Post date:** [June 24, 2007, 10:16am UTC](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-more-insurance-companies-cover-viagra-over-birth-control-pills/408610/20 "2007-06-24T10:16:23Z")
Looking at the cites, it seems you’re both right. Birth Control _Pills_, ie: Oral Contraceptives are covered under the majority of plans but _other_ forms of birth control were poorly covered. [Next page](https://boards.straightdope.com/t/do-more-insurance-companies-cover-viagra-over-birth-control-pills/408610.md?page=2)