Do you think tampons should be covered by medical insurance?

Not any more than cold medication should be covered.

Nah. People need food every month, and the government doesn’t pay for that.

Sometimes, I do. But bandages aren’t, so I guess tampons fall into that category: “Things we must use, but really don’t have to, so thus we pay for them.”

It should be, just as food, heat, etc should be

I believe band-aids, cold medications are covered by FSAs and HSAs

@PandoraBoxx That is what I was thinking. Bandaids and cold medicine are covered by HSA’s. I think Bandaids are classified as a medical supply?

No, but I think they should be in a bowl next to the lollipops

.

@ChazMaz What if someone got them confused?
that person would have a bad day

My period is not an illness.
Insurance should cover procedures and the items needed to treat or cure illnesses.

I’m done here.

If men menstruated, I believe they would be covered. However it still doesn’t make it okay. I would like all people to be covered instead of all things.

Well, I don’t know much about tampons, but maybe. How much do they cost? How much does the average woman spend on tampons a year?

I must say, @asmonet and @nikipedia have good points.

And it’s funny because I know two people who have jacked Tampons from Safeway. I saw them do it. I didn’t help or anything, but, it was kind of funny to be honest…

@DominicX: Oh boy, you asked…

At I’d say an average price of $11 a 40 pc. box, depending on absorbency, brand, etc. And from what I know of friends and average of 1 box a month or less… Roughly… But then you factor in pads, pantyliners if you mix and match absorbencies for different days…

Um, a decent chunk.

Or you could skirt the whole process and use a menstrual cup. :D

Edited to account for Niki’s points.

@asmonet: Disagree. Let’s say you bleed for 7 days and replace tampon on average 3x/day (every 8 hours). That’s 21 tampons, or very nearly half of a 40pc box.

True, but again, if you have super heavy flows, or just light. I mean it could vary from like $0, to $60 to $200+. It sucks but I don’t think there’s an accurate average without data. Which I don’t really have. Just ball parking from anecdotes with girl friends.

Maybe my friends are just super bleeders. o.0

I probably average $6—$8 a month and the occasional throwing out of a pair of underwear.

Eww…bleeding…I like being a dude… >.<

But it seems to me like it would only be covered by medical insurance if it became problematic for people to pay for them. Are there really any instances where this has caused people significant problems? (I’m not trying to say it’s not a big deal or not a significant amount or anything, but it just doesn’t come off as dire or as difficult as paying thousands for surgery).

@asmonet: But by your own calculations, $200 would be 18 boxes of tampons containing 40 tampons each. That’s 720 tampons. If anyone is using 720 tampons in one period, she should see her doctor.

Insurance is meant to cover injuries, illnesses, and all the accoutrements. A period is an expected and normal function. If they start covering tampons, then they better start covering diapers.

@ubersiren interesting analogy – diapers.

@nikipedia: She has. And I didn’t say ONE period.

That was an annual cost, based from a conversation with a friend on her yearly expenses.
Dominic asked for annual costs too.

@ubersiren What if you are bleeding after giving birth, is that different? Then should it be covered? Is that different than monthly bleeding?

oh you men folk and your low maintenance junk.

couldn’t resist

@JLeslie : That’s a good point. I would say that bleeding after birth is normal. However, I’m sure there are instances where the woman is having abnormal excessive bleeding, in which case, perhaps insurance should consider them medically necessary.

@JLeslie You take take a bunch of the diaper like pads they provide for you, at the hospital, after giving birth. They let you take whatever from the room, and I took a bunch of those pads because I wouldn’t even know where to find them in a store (think the embarrassing pads that the school nurse ONLY has lol)
A lot of little things are “medically necessary” doesn’t mean they’re covered. Glasses aren’t always covered, but I’m blind without mine (or contacts) I have to pay out of pocket for my glasses and contacts. Yeah, it stinks but it’s how the insurance is. Doesn’t really make sense to me since I NEED glasses to see (and I’m on state health insurance that covers eye care, but only exams no contacts or glasses for people over 21 but below I believe 65)

Great queastion! He’ll yes they should be covered.
Edit: they should not be covered, because they should be free, period.

@ChazMaz Slightly unrelated, but I was reminded of a friend of mine has at least one condom in basically every coin jar or catch-all tray around her home, and each time her boyfriend encounters one, he leaves two antacids.

@casheroo I think they should cover glasses also. Even if it is just a basic pair or minimal amount like $100 per year and you pay the rest if you want a fancy pair or contacts. I mean it is your sight, that seems medically necessary to me.

I figured you could grab some pads out of the hospital when you give birth, they gave me a couple when I had my ectopic and was bleeding. Meanwhile, I wonder what crazy price the hospital is charging insurance for those pads??

@JLeslie Tell me about it. I need new glasses pretty bad, I’ve had the same pair for at least 5 years and they are not doing so swell. I’ve been shopping around

@casheroo my husband’s job has eye insurance, or whatever you call it, separate from medical insurance, that covers glasses.

@JLeslie I have Medicaid. If you are over 21 or under 65 (could be 55..whatever the age is for Medicare) then you cannot get contacts or glasses. It really doesn’t make sense, since glasses for some are medically necessary (like me)

I think everyone should be covered by health insurance, not just the residents of Tampa.

Yes, I strongly believe they should be on the NHS (I live in England). They aren’t a luxery, we can’t choose whether we have periods or not (for the most part – I understand that some contraceptives can stop the flow on a semi permanent basis) and tampons and sanitary towels over here are not cheap either.

Maybe we should be allocated a certain amount per month for free and then if we require anymore then we have to pay for extra’s.

What about razor blades? What about deodorants?

@mattbrowne We don’t NEED either of those.

@mattbrowne – Men need to shave.

@mattbrowne Not really. Men (and women) shave for social reasons nowadays. Sure it’s more convenint for men to shave and it often looks neater but if you weren’t to shave then you would just have extra hair (which you could always keep trimmed with scissors).

@Leanne1986 – Good point. Insurances are meant to cover exceptions. There’s a fire. Insurance makes sense. There’s an earthquake. Insurance makes sense. There’s a car accident. Insurance makes sense. People have a heart attack. Insurance makes sense. Menstruation happens monthly. It’s part of nature. It’s not an exception. It’s not a health problem. If anything is unusual about menstruation and a doctor makes a proper diagnosis, health insurances should pay for the expenses.

I don’t know… I think feminine products are a hygiene product, not a vanity product. I’d equate it to diapers or soap rather than razors. However, under normal circumstances, it’s an expected expense.

Honestly, I’ve got a cup so I’m over tampons. What pisses me off is when my insurance tells me that seeing the gynecologist constitutes “special” care. It’s like they think being a woman constitutes a medical condition.

My sex is not a medical condition.

In the UK we have the National Health Service which some of our taxes goes towards. Because of this I can get completely free contraception. I choose to be on contraception, I do not choose to have a period every month. It would make more sense for me if I paid for the contraception but got my sanitary products free or at the very least, cheaper than what I have to pay for them.

If women didn’t use sanitary products it would become a health hazard for the individual women and those around her. As @ubersiren says it is hygene NOT vanity. If we can get contraceptives free of charge then I believe that sanitary products should be too.

Now, I don’t feel that we should have the very best free of charge but I do feel that we should have a certain amount of basic but adequate sanitary products free or at least more reasonably priced than they are.

I remember once calling my dad (who, bless him, is not shy about these things) in tears because I had come on unexpectedly. The problem? I couldn’t afford some tampons or sanitary towels at the time. Obviously now, I keep a certain amount of my wages allocated for such things but, like I said, on this single occassion I wasn’t expecting my period. I was so embarrassed and it only happened to me once. I wonder how many women that happens to on a regular basis?

@Leanne1986 You just made me think of how I have always worried about women who are menstruating during our natural disasters like hurricanes (somehow I have lucked out even when I was stuck for 8 days with no electricity and worry the sewer system was not functioning, still I was able to stay dafely in my home). Imagine being on your period, not having tampons or pads, poor conditions for using the bathroom like not being able to flush the toilets or lack of clean running water, and possibly being in a shelter if your home is unsafe.

@JLeslie I would really hope that in extreme situations, ie: natural disasters, that sanitary products would be supplied for women if needed without even a second thought.

@Leanne1986 Just wonder if they are thinking of it? People would come down with trucks full of donations after hurricanes in FL, some brought blankets. Ummm, it’s August in Florida!