Healthcare Insurance

Insurance is a form of risk management primarily used to hedge against the risk of a contingent, uncertain loss. Insurance is defined as the equitable transfer of the risk of a loss, from one entity to another, in exchange for payment. My college finance professor defined insurance as "taking on unknown future cash flow and converting it in to known present cash flows."
When an employer offers their employee "vision insurance" it isn't "insurance" because there is no risk that is being hedged. The employer is giving a known amount of money to an insurance company and the insurance company then pays out that money as planned. The employer has decided to pay for a bi-annual doctor visit, and kick in some money toward the purchase of glasses; all planned in advance.

Healthcare is the diagnosis, treatment, and prevention of disease, illness, injury, and other physical and mental impairments in humans; to maintain the body operating as designed. Getting a haircut would not be healthcare. I might mentally feel better after a haircut, but it is not restoring the body to designed operation. In fact a case could be made that a haircut goes against designed operation. By design, hair grows; cutting it is anti-growth.

Today, in the political sphere, we are debating the governments requirement that birth control be provided by all employers to all their employees. There seems to be two different groups against this requirement; one religious and one political.

The political group sees this as the government forcing employers to buy birth control for their employees. It is not insurance because there is no risk; the cost is known and regular. Birth control is not healthcare because it does not maintain the body operating as designed. In fact, it causes the body to not operate as designed while increasing the risk of injury and disease. Birth control is anti-healthcare. Women should purchase their own birth control just like they have to purchase their movie tickets, bicycles, or video games. Birth control is not a requirement of life, so it would not be in the same category as food, shelter, and clothing. This is gender politics in action.

Birth control was condemned by Christian culture until the 1930's because it artificially interfered with the procreative possibility of the marital act. The Catholic Church, and some other Christian individuals, still holds that belief. The religious group sees the government requirement as a violation of the first amendment. Catholic employers are being forced to pay for something they find morally repugnant; contrary to their conscience.