response 216 of 526:

Feb 28 17:49 UTC 2006

I've always found the "Viagra vs. birth control pills" argument to be a
little on the silly side for a variety of reasons:

- ED is a disease, while fertility is not.
- Viagra is a new medication for which cheap generic versions are not
  available.  BCPs are old, available in generic versions, and therefore
  cheap
- Poor and lower-middle-class people can get BCPs for free (PP offers
  such a program, for example.)
- Not all health insurance covers Viagra anyway; it's expensive and there
  is a perception (quite possibly an accurate one) that many people use
  it recreationally rather than out of medical necessity.  The trend is
  toward dropping coverage for it, both by private and public insurers.

I think it would be a nice idea for health insurance plans to cover BCPs
given how cheap they are and how expensive pregnancy is, but that's
their call to make given what their actuaries come up with.  I don't see
what it has to do with covering treatment for ED, and reading misogyny
into it is just absurd.