David Goldhill considers how the definition has expanded:
Increasingly, health experts rely on the political system to answer the difficult questions of what should be reimbursable by insurers, Medicare, and Medicaid, but the results haven’t been promising in terms of consistency or principle, not to mention control over the expanding definition of care. The fifty states have imposed on health insurers more than 2,000 mandates—requirements to reimburse certain procedures—and the regulations required by the Affordable Care Act will include additional mandates on a national level.
Many of these mandates cover treatments that used to be thought of as cosmetic, optional, or at the very least not medically necessary. In 2008, ten states required coverage for hair prostheses; thirteen for in vitro fertilization. Thirty-one mandated contraceptive reimbursement. Forty-six required reimbursement for the services of chiropractors; fourteen for marriage counselors; and four for massage therapists. Arizona mandated the cost of athletic training. The issue isn’t whether any or all of these treatments are good or useful: the question is whether we should all be required to pay for some who want them.
The Dish 