The HPV vaccine was approved earlier this year. This vaccine could prevent more than 10,000 cases of cervical cancer and save thousands of women's lives. I have never been infected with HPV and would like to get the vaccine. I stopped by student health this morning and found out that each of the three doses are $155. So I called Penn Western Benefits to find out what their coverage for the vaccine is like.
They only provide coverage if a woman is over 30 and has a previous history of the virus.
As vaccines are primarily useful before you get a virus and since the FDA has only licensed the HPV vaccine for use in females between the ages of 9 and 26, my insurance company really doesn't cover the HPV vaccine at all. Especially considering that the FDA recommends the vaccine before women are sexually active - which is generally sometime before the age of 30.
Penn Western does cover PAP smears and all the stuff you need when you get cancer. But Penn Western will pay more for all the PAP smears I'm going to have to get over the years checking for HPV than you would on the vaccine. And cervical cancer, of course, is a bit more expensive than the $465 that the vaccine costs.
So why doesn't Penn Western cover the vaccine? Because by not covering it, you are killing women for having sex.
