Really.

…my wife has to get a letter every year from her doctor and fax it in stating she has a medical need for OC.

And this is ridiculous. The insurance companies know perfectly well that doctors are making up diagnoses in order to get coverage for contraception. They wink and nod while they force their policyholders to waste time jumping through hoops.

In regards to the issue, I agree with you guys. I just don’t get why Viagra is covered and birth control isn’t. I mean, I guess you could argue one is a medical “necessity” for ED, but I think that would be a stretch. You would think insurance companies would WANT their claimant’s to be on birth control so as to keep prenatal and pregnancy claims down.

Oh and I guess I better clarify something. Our insurance (and I think most) will cover birth control as long as you get a note from your doctor stating a “medical need” for them other than just pregnancy prevention. You women know much more about this stuff than us men, but I just know my wife has to get a letter every year from her doctor and fax it in stating she has a medical need for OC.

I suppose both positions - the pro-free-Viagra and anti-free-OC’s - can be explained if the overarching policy is, you’ll excuse the expression, “pro-life.” More erections, more welcoming well-lined uteri, more pregnancies.

However, I don’t think most conservative voters want poor women to have more children. I really think they just hate the idea of Their Tax Dollars going to pay for birth control pills so that the poor can copulate with impunity. Maybe it’s just that The Pill is inextricably connected to the idea of hedonistic, unfettered sin. Because although I’m pretty sure you can’t get a vasectomy or a TL at a Catholic hospital, those procedures don’t seem to be the point of this rule change.