Reid seeks insurance coverage for contraceptives

WASHINGTON -- The honeymoon is over for Viagra.

The newly approved wonder drug that supposedly cures male impotence has found a few critics, including Sen. Harry Reid, D-Nev., who accuse the insurance industry of a sexual double standard for "rushing" to cover Viagra but not oral contraceptives.

"It's too bad it takes another man's issue to focus attention on a woman's issue," Reid said Tuesday.

Since receiving approval from the Food and Drug Administration a month ago, Viagra grabbed headlines across the nation. Many insurance companies have said they would cover the prescription costs of the drug, although some have rejected the idea.

In contrast, the birth control pill hit the market in 1960 and 38 years later, just one-third of typical indemnity plans cover its prescription costs. Half of large group plans do not cover any contraceptive costs.

Calling it a "man's world," Reid said it is time for insurance companies to stop dragging their feet on female issues.

"Viagra comes up, oh boy, (men) get everything they want," he said.

Reid has no opposition to insurance companies covering Viagra, but wants the pill and other female contraceptives to receive the same coverage.

A yearly supply of the pill costs about $300, which means women pay about 70 percent more than men in health costs each year, advocacy groups say.

Last May, Reid introduced a bill, along with Sen. Olympia Snowe, R-Maine, that would require any insurance company that covers the costs of prescription drugs to also cover prescription contraceptives.

On Tuesday, the American College of Obstetrics and Gynecology, the National Family Planning Association and other group used the hoopla surrounding Viagra to call for passage of the Snowe-Reid bill.

"At a time when we want to reduce the number of unintended pregnancies, it does not make sense that so many otherwise insured women are denied access to the most effective contraceptives because of the disparity in coverage," Snowe said.

But the insurance lobby has opposed the Snowe-Reid bill, which has not moved any closer to a Senate vote.

Insurance companies warn that if they are forced to pick up the costs of the bill, those costs will ultimately be passed on to consumers. Also, employers have the final say in what health-care coverage they will pay for their employees to have, said Richard Coorsh, spokesman for the Health Insurance Association of America.

"The employer determines what it will reimburse," Coorsh said. "If the Acme Widgets Co. wanted to provide coverage for contraceptives, they can choose to do so."

The insurance lobby opposes any government-mandated coverage cost. Coorsh noted that some insurance companies have balked at picking up the tab for Viagra because of the "immense potential for abuse of Viagra's so-called recreational use" by men who are not impotent.

In the end, he said, "It's the challenge of insurance companies to keep insurance premiums as low as possible."

archive