Should Contraception Be Covered by Insurance?

I am stepping into this debate, the debate about contraception.  To me, it has become about as pleasant as raw sewage.  It is a debate which may have cost Rick Santorum a chance at the GOP nomination, and has cost talk show host, Rush Limbaugh, a lot of problems with his advertisers.

What Rush Limbaugh said about the Law Student who testified before the democrats in Congress was over the top.  We should not resort to name calling in what should be a civilized debate.  Rush Limbaugh, out of all people should know this.  But if you listen to Rush, you know that he often resorts to name calling and labeling people he does not agree with.  It is difficult for Congress to have a civilized debate about anything when the pundits are so uncivil.

But let's talk about contraception for a moment, but not about the moral aspects of it, but about the economic aspects of it.  As we begin, think about that scene from "The Wedding Singer" where one of the main characters bought a new VCR for his fiance.  It was $800.

Every product goes through normal life-cycle.  There is an introduction phase, the growth phase, the maturity phase, the saturation phase and the decline phase.

In the introduction phase, there is usually only one company making the product.  It is in short supply and very difficult to obtain and the price is very high.  This is when your VCR cost $800.

In the growth phase,  there may still be only one company making the product, but the company has stepped up production to meet the demand, and is using advertising and other marketing tools to increase the popularity of the product.  The price is usually still high at this point.  Your VCR at this point was $500.

In the maturity phase, the competition has had the time to reverse engineer the product.  The company that has developed the initial product should have, by now, recovered their development costs.  Now that there is competition, the price drops.  More companies are manufacturing the product and that helps to meet the demand.  The VCR at this point cost $350.

In the saturation phase, the price of the product, the demand and the number of companies manufacturing the product have stabilized.  The price, at this point, should be affordable for most people.  Manufacturing techniques improve and the price drops even more.  At this point, you could get a VCR for around $150.

In the decline phase, the product is obsolete, being phased out and is dirt cheap.  The last new VCR I saw cost $50.

"The pill" was approved by the FDA on June 10, 1957.  If this product is not in the saturation phase by now, there is a real problem with the way that drugs are manufactured and marketed in the United States.  If oral contraception is not affordable for most Americans without insurance, then we are all being ripped off.

This whole debate has morphed into a new religious conciseness debate, and it is completely unnecessary.  There are other drugs that I can afford to pay for without filing a claim with my insurance company, why is "the pill" not among them?

Think about it.  In the time that has passed since "the pill" was introduced, we have seen Tylenol, Prilosec and a host of other miracle drugs move to the saturation phase and become affordable.  If these drugs have not become available over the counter, they have moved to the list of drugs that Wal-Mart and a host of other pharmacies offer for $4.  There should be oral contraceptives on that list as well, and I believe that there may be some available at that price.  If this product is so reasonably priced, why should I need insurance to cover it?  Why is there a debate about it at all?

Possibly it is to provide some peace of mind and the illusion that people can be covered no matter what choice is made.  Like any other product in the saturation phase, there are Cadillac brands and there are Hyundai brands.  But why expect an insurance company to pay for it?  If you want to pay for the Cadillac, is it not reasonable to pay for it out of your own pocket?  Don't make the pharmacy and the claims adjuster bother with the paperwork and use $4 birth control as a reason to drive up the costs of other products.

This is one aspect of the health care debate that is missed.  There are some health care options that most reasonable people can pay for with their own money.  That should be encouraged.  It will save insurance processing for more serious problems and claims that most reasonable people would have difficulty paying for.

Let's accept the fact that some of our medications can be paid for out of pocket, even by struggling law students, even "the pill".  If we don't get off of this dangerous path, people will be expecting their auto insurance to pay for wiper blades and their home owners policy to cover smoke detector batteries.

If Rush Limbaugh were to take this angle, instead of the "free love" aspect of birth control, he would not have anyone to apologize to.

Should contraception be covered by insurance?  By now, it should be so well priced that most people can afford it without involving their insurance company.