Medicare to cover Viagra, similar sex performance drugs

[True_Blue]

WASHINGTON (AP) Sexual performance drugs such as Viagra will be covered in Medicare's new prescription drug program, a lifestyle rather than lifesaving benefit that conservatives and watchdog groups say the government shouldn't provide.

Like those for maladies such as high blood pressure and heart disease, prescriptions for Viagra and similar drugs in its class will be tightly controlled. The new prescription coverage begins Jan. 1 and is expected to cost more than $500 billion over the next decade.

``The law says if it's an FDA-approved drug and it is medically necessary, it has to be covered,'' said Gary Karr, spokesman for the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, which administers the health insurance program for older Americans.

Pfizer's Viagra, Bayer's Levitra and Eli Lilly & Co.'s Cialis are used primarily to treat erectile dysfunction. Viagra might also prove useful in treating enlarged hearts that can result from high blood pressure.

more....
http://cbs4boston.com/nhnews/NH--Medicare-Viagra-en/resources_news_html

[hangemhigh]

1. Imagine my shock!

A gift from chimp to Phucking Phizer! Who woulda thought?

[ElectroPrincess]

21. This is absurd! But I'm sure our RW rulers will "keep it up."

[DemoTex]

2. Strange tales from strange times ..

I have to take Viagra because of my B/P meds (atenolol). The beta-blocker kills the libido. Period. So I titrate myself with a drug to get a hard-on. It satisfies my libido at my age of 56, but it will probably kill me in the shorter term. Know what I mean Vern?

[VegasWolf]

5. You might want to have your doctor prescribe testosterone for the libido.

PM me if you want.

[Skittles]

8. I know what you mean, Mac

:7

[WindRavenX]

3. but are my birth control pills covered?

Thought not. :mad: :mad: :mad:

[BrklynLiberal]

6. If men got pregnant, abortion would be a sacrament.

[Sal Minella]

10. Simone deBeauvoir said that

Every viagra pill ought to arrive wrapped in a certificate good for a free abortion. Or at least be packaged with a Plan B.

I said that.

[telamachus]

18. assuming

that the man or woman chooses not to use birth control. In the case of Medicare it is unlikely that pregnancy will occur with 65+ year old men having sex. I doubt that there are many fertile women having sex with 65+ men and in any case if they are older and fertile they are probably wise enough to practice responsible family planning.

[BrklynLiberal]

30. Does the term "Sugar-daddy" ring a bell?

I doubt that there are many fertile women having sex with 65+ men

[telamachus]

31. the sugar daddy could pay for it then

and would not need insurance to cover it.

[jazzjunkysue]

33. Yes, but, still, male sex is covered, female sex is punished.

That's also why the anti-abortion laws locked up the women, and the abortion docs, but never went looking for the men who impregnated them.

That's the best argument against a lifer: Write the law for the men. Shuts em right up!

[BrklynLiberal]

29. A very wise and eloquent woman.

[ElectroPrincess]

24. Yeah! AND it would be offered as a *free* service within

every damn WalMart and Target within the good ole' US of A. :puke: They'd probably provide a complementary box of ammo for the MALE abortion recipient's rifle or shotgun ... as an expression of gratitude for controllin' da population explosin'.

[daleo]

11. I thought Medicare only covered seniors in the U.S.

So birth control wouldn't be needed. I am not American, so I don't know the details of U.S. Medicare. I don't know if Viagra and similar drugs are covered by Canadian medicare.

[teakee]

13. You can be disabled and get Medicare.

[telamachus]

19. I believe it is Medicaid

not Medicare that justly covers those with disabilities.

[teakee]

26. No, it is Medicare if you are on SSDI.

If you are on SSI, because you didn't have enough credits built up, you get SSI and Medicaid. You wait, fight longer for SSDI since you will be disabled long term. Once you are awarded SSDI, it is 2 years from the point of the disability to receive Medicare.

I am 44, and I have Medicare Parts A and B. I pay for part B. I had enough credits built up for SSDI too.

SSI only gets Medicaid.

It is rather confusing. But when you are disabled and paid into SS, there is a BIG difference.

[Isere]

4. Boners Rule!

Ain't it the truth! In Japan, they approved Viagra before they approved birth control pill!

What a joke! Viagra is a pill that allows an impotent man to get a boner. Maybe he is impotent because of diabetes or vascular disease...so the taxpayer should pay for his boner?

OK, I think that's great. Make love, not war!

But what about all the other things that Medicare does not cover!!! What about the 45 million uninsured! What about the kids who don't get vaccines? Or what about the people who need medical equipment such as wheelchairs or hospital beds or visiting nurses?

If this were a pill only intended for use by women, does anyone on the face of this planet think it would be covered by Medicare?!!!

[Seabiscuit]

14. Dem bones, dem bones gonna rise again!

[leesa]

7. Figures...anything for the good old boys club.

[ebayfool]

12. ...anything for the good old boys chub?

sorry, had to say it!

[abandon_ship]

37. now i can sneak in a quickie between matlock and shuffleboard

[L.A.dweller]

9. Bush wants to set the clock back a century or two

to a time when the only role of women was to reproduce and stay home.
This is evident when we examine the living(?) specimen of Laura Bush.
Yeah, it is great that she will take the time out of her wonderful life to read some childrens book to a group of kids... but come on! That woman's brain is dead as a piece of hamburger.

[ElectroPrincess]

25. Yes, but dear L.A.dweller ...

Albeit Laura is a willing tool for everything her husband wants to unleash on the "little people" of the USA, you forgot ONE, and perhaps THE most important qualifier ...

Laura Bush's plastic surgery was a smashing success, and dammit, she looks good! Nobody can deny her beauty.

Like Billy Crystal's (don't confuse with the thug Neo-Con) character used to endlessly proclaim on SNL:

"It's better to LOOK GOOD" ---> above all else, the only thing that matters is the wrapping not the substance of the package.

Welcome to Brave New World a.k.a. *World.

[Massachusetts]

15. So thats why all those retired Guys and Gals are smiling at the

coffee shop first thing in the morning.:bounce: It sounds good to me.

[Triana]

16. SO - When does the birth conrtol pill coverage start?

And condoms? IUDs, etc?

[telamachus]

17. Age 65

can a woman get pregnant at that age? Birth control is not much of an issue here...the real issue has been stated enough already...

[muriel_volestrangler]

28. related question (from outside the US):

does Medicaid (coverage for those on welfare, right?) cover birth control?

[mantis49]

32. not in IL. n/t

[Skittles]

38. who gives a shit about AGE?

the fact is they cover men getting boners but routinely deny woman coverage THEY TRULY NEED

[Mend]

20. wonder if hormone replacement therapy for women

will be covered? The treatment for menopausal symptoms.

[htuttle]

22. This is fucked up

We can't even afford to get my wife covered for things like a broken leg, yet the government is buying people FUCKING BONER PILLS!!!

[snippy]

23. Bush mentioned this in the debates. "Want some wood?"

Bush's followers no doubt will see this as a wonderful republican entitlememt program.

[Psephos]

35. Hilarious :-) n/t

[devilgrrl]

27. Interesting that they don't cover...

anything related to smoking cessation or mental health.

[Sgent]

34. What are you talking about????

Mental health is very much covered by Medicare currently, and I would be shocked if they didn't cover psychotropic drugs.

As for smoking cesstation (and birth control for that matter) they way Medicare is setup, it can't cover it unless congress changes the law.

Medicare only covers the treatment diagnosis of diseases. There are specific exceptions (a lot of them) for certain preventative items, but there is no broad coverage for prevention.

[abandon_ship]

36. i get a bone just thinking about it, now it's time for my nap....zzzzzz