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To: BUYandHOLD who wrote (330)	6/16/1998 5:22:00 PM
From: Anthony Wong	Read Replies (2) \| Respond to of 1722

Aetna U.S. Healthcare Refuses Viagra Coverage In New York June 16, 1998 4:27 PM HARTFORD, Conn. -(Dow Jones)- Aetna Inc.'s Aetna U.S. Healthcare won't pay for the impotency drug Viagra unless employers buy special coverage because the HMO's managers don't consider having sex medically necessary, the company has told New York regulators, according to the Associated Press. In a 14-page letter sent Monday to the New York Department of Insurance, the insurer (AET) said Pfizer Inc.'s (PFE) Viagra could cost it more than $50 million a year and cited "the primarily recreational/lifestyle use and abuse of this drug." The decision comes as many insurers remain undecided about whether to fund what they consider lifestyle drugs. "Simply put, having sexual relations is not a medical necessity," the letter said. Aetna spokeswoman Jill Griffiths said that while the policy will apply in New York she didn't know whether the decision would apply nationwide. Dr. Rafael Wurzel, a New Britain, Conn., urologist, said he thinks Viagra is necessary, since it helps men restore lost physical function and reestablish sexual relations with their partners. "All patients who have an organic basis to their erectile dysfunction should be entitled to receive treatment if that treatment is available," Wurzel said. Aetna, as has been the case with other insurers, hasn't been covering Viagra while it has been deciding what position to take on the wildly popular and pricey $10-a-pill impotence drug. New York's insurance department had demanded insurers file their rules on Viagra by Monday. Of the 35 responses received by midday, Aetna was the only company refusing to pay for Viagra as part of its regular prescription drug rider. For that reason, Aetna says, Viagra should be treated as oral contraceptives, meaning it will be offered as optional coverage to employers at extra premium. Among other factors Aetna cited in its decision were serious side effects and potential fatal interactions with other drugs, and "unprecedented potential for misuse, fraud and abuse." Other Connecticut-based insurers are covering Viagra on a limited basis. Oxford Health Plans Inc. (OXHP) has said it plans to limit payment to six pills per person every 30 days, while M.D. Health Plan and Physicians Health Services expects to limit coverage to four pills a month. Copyright (c) 1998 Dow Jones & Company, Inc. All Rights Reserved.