Can someone tell me if vasectomies are treated the same way as abortion under the HCR?

[GumboYaYa]

Is there a prohibition on the federal government paying for a vasectomy?

I just don't know the answer, but it seems that there are close parallels here. Given the history of misogyny in this country, it would not surprise me to find out there is no issue with a vasectomy, but abortion and even female birth control are another story.

[liberal N proud]

1. That would be a little sexist

But I wouldn't be surprised if they were.


Edit that should be sexist DUH!

[left coaster]

3. I'm sorry for asking.. apparently I'm a little slow today.. :)

..but how is this racist?

[liberal N proud]

6. Your not slow, I am screwed up.

Cover a male procedure to prevent conception

I don't know maybe they would cover tubal ligation also.

Who knows, Most insurance companies would cover it but not birth control. Go figure that one out. I would think the pill would be cheaper than covering a kid for 20+ years.

[left coaster]

15. Thank goddess I'm not that far gone... yet..

Thanks for the edit!

[DrDan]

4. racist? why racist?

[liberal N proud]

13. I meant sexist

But that went out the window trying to explain it all.

I am a :dunce:

[Oregone]

2. Shouldn't you compare a vasectomy to a hysterectomy?

Rather than abortion?

That aside, Im surprised any of its covered. The more births = more patients = more procedures = more profits on insurance and delivery end.

[Pisces]

5. BIngo or a tubal ligation

[FLyellowdog]

7. No, Compare to tubal ligation.nt

[Oregone]

9. Gotcha

My point was that while they are all clasified as birth control, vascetomies prevent implantation (semi-permenantly) similarly to female procedures. So making a comparison is rough.

That aside, in the spirit of capitalism, let em breed, let em blossom, let em flow.

[GumboYaYa]

11. That is correct if you are making the analogy based on

the most closely analagous procedures for each sex. I am more focused on the notion of controlling ones body and the inability to do that when insurance rules, and governement regulations make a procedure unavailable.

With a vasectomy and abortion, they are both procedures that implicate a person's control over their own person.

[SPedigrees]

10. No, hysterectomy would be comparable to removal of the male testes.

[Oregone]

14. Which I recommend. You can never be too sure

[SPedigrees]

17. rotfl! nt

[SPedigrees]

8. Apples and oranges. Vasectomy for men's parallel would be tubal ligation for women.

Whether or not these procedures are covered by most insurance plans is something I do not know. Could be they are treated as elective surgeries, and might or might not be covered, depending on the plan.

Neither procedure causes the same amount of furor as abortion among the anti-choice crowd, since neither causes the death of an embryo.

[bpj62]

12. Vasectomies

My vasectomy was completely covered by my insurance company. It was an outpatient procedure and i simply had to get a referral from my primary doctor. You are comparing apples to oranges.

[Peregrine]

16. Had mine done by the Army

Cost me $3.60. Strange thing was, I had to have written permission from my then wife.

[SPedigrees]

19. Same experience here. I had to sign for my hubby's vasectomy in the 1970s

but insurance paid the bill. Ditto with my abortion, same era - insur paid and hubby had to sign for me. Those were strange days...

[Lars39]

21. Most private insurance health plans cover abortion.

[musette_sf]

23. My tubal ligation was NOT covered in my insurance plan.

I fought the insurer, and I won. Thank goodness.

I wonder what plans cover these days?

Any women here know if voluntary tubal ligation - unrelated to a birth event - is covered under their current plan?

I know some women get TLs after "the last baby" after the birth event, and I assume that some women are covered for this if a successive pregnancy would pose a health risk.

But what if you just want a TL? I mean, a vasectomy isn't related to a birth event, it's totally voluntary.

?????

[Toucano]

18. As others have pointed out, there are no "close parallels" in your premise. n-t

[paulsby]

20. i don't think there are CLOSE parallels

vasectomies do not affect a dependant form of life (the fetus).

i am pro-choice.

i am not about to analogize a medical procedure that solely affects one owns organs vs. one that affects a fetus as well

an analogy to a vasectomy would be a histerectomy.

THAT would be valid

not an abortion

[musette_sf]

22. Comparing vasectomies to tubal ligations,

when I had my TL, vasectomies WERE covered by HIP, but TLs were NOT.

I fought it and won.

Not to mention the doctors I fought who refused to perform it.

I was 25 and had no kids. Finding a doctor who would even perform the surgery was difficult.

That was in 1980. I've never regretted having the TL.

I've been steamed ever since that an adult woman could get treated like an incompetent imbecile, or like a young child, in making a personal healthcare decision.

Unfortunately, I see no improvement in this in 2010.