Is it right that health insurance doesnt cover baldness prevention and treatment?

Hair is not nearly as practical or necessary as an arm.

Bald is a very popular style.

Armless is not.

The statement: “hair serves a practical function, otherwise it wouldn’t be there” is unsupported.

Scientists seriously debate the function and evolution of head hair on humans. The two best arguments are:

1. warmth. But human hair is pretty ineffective at keeping us warm, otherwise we wouldn’t wear hats.
2. developing complex social structures. Except that our society has evolved much faster than biological evolution can keep up with and the social functions of hair are pretty limited and could hardly be considered necessary.

So, yes it is right. Hair is purely cosmetic and no one is ostracized for being bald, in fact many very successful people are bald through biology and others through choice.

It’s only necessary for cosmetic reasons.
Unless you have a VERY good argument, it’s never going to happen.

It’s cosmetic. It doesn’t hurt you or impact your life not having it. Well, I suppose if you are bald and find yourself unattractive and then your self esteem sinks so low that you can’t find a mate, so you live a lonely life and become depressed and develop issues…but well I don’t think it’s usually that much of a problem.

Hair serves a practical function as an asthetic. it is therefore functional.

@proXXi
No because it would cost the health insurance companies too much, this way they make more money.

Baldness is not an illness. Aesthetics does not equal function.

Listen, I don’t understand why toothbrushes & toothpaste, neti pots and other methods of prevention aren’t covered under the FSA account.

I’d much rather see preventative medicines and hygiene habits covered under insurance than I would cosmetic surgery or cosmetic drugs.

Being bald can easily be treated with nice haircuts or wigs/toupees.

We are not cavemen anymore, hair does not serve a practical function. Otherwise how do you explain the invention of the razor?

If you can arrange coverage for me for my propensity to burn rather than tan in the sun, I will advocate for a baldness clause for you.

@SpatzieLover Forget toothbrushes and toothpaste, let’s just get dental care added to health insurance. Dental health has been proven to be linked to serious medical issues, in particular heart disease, so health insurance should include dental care instead of it being looked at as a luxury long before we start talking about baldness.

@pdworkin, I’m not personally in need of a baldness treatment, just curious.

@gussnarp You’re absolutely correct! My dental insurance now is just cheaper than for my family to pay out of pocket…which is ridiculous!

If you want to start an insurance company that covers baldness, be my guest. To be honest, I bet there are already people out there who insure their hair. This wouldn’t fall under health though.

Some insurance covers wigs for chemo patients from what I understand.

Still, it is basically a cosmetic problem not functional, even though losing your hair can be pscholoically awful and you might be able to better argue coverage under mental health?

Half of large insurance providers don’t even cover BIRTH CONTROL! If people were dying from being bald, you’d have a point, however I don’t think that baldness is a lethal problem. Hell, some people do it on purpose.

Maybe your insurance company could give you a hat of some kind. That would be awfully nice.

Anyone else thought this was an entertaining part of the question: “insurance doesnt cover baldness”?

@Cartman TeeHee! I’m sure the insurance company could “cover” the baldness with some piles of unreadable forms, too

@fireinthepriory Is that really so? I have never had an insurance company not cover birth control. Why don’t they cover it? I never understood that?

@JLeslie Unfortunately it is true… There’s at least one lawsuit under way, here is an article about it. I read somewhere that more insurance companies cover viagra than the birth control pill. Now that is fucked up. I don’t think there’s any stated reason… just stupidity and archaic political reasons.

edit: Found another article, this one stating that only 33% of Indiana health insurance covers birth control.

@fireinthepriory I have heard this before, but thought maybe it was blown out of porportion by liberals (I am liberal) because I don’t know anyone personally who could not get the pill through insurance. It seems ridiculous to think the companies think it will save them money. I figured it must be a moral judgement of some sort.

@JLeslie I know some people who don’t, but not a ton – it’s probably geographical, honestly. My roommate who is still on her parents’ insurance who live in Florida can’t get her birth control covered. I think my mother is actually the one who brought the Viagra statistic to my attention.

you might be able to get it under “Personal Use Items” but only in specific instances, not just because you lose your hair due to heredity