At around $84.2 million per year, the Pentagon spends a significant portion of their annual budget on erectile dysfunction medication. This amount is huge compared to the estimated $8.4 million needed for gender transition-related health care for transgender military personnel.
With the recent ban on transgender military members, attention is on the massive military budget line item, recently approved by President Trump, for erectile dysfunction medication. A closer look reveals the budget line item is largely due to military retirees and psychological issues prevalent among post-Iraq and Afghanistan active duty military members.
Military Retirees
Equivalent to the cost of multiple fighter jets, the annual $84.2 million spent on erectile dysfunction medication is mostly due to older retirees. Millions of military retirees and their family members are covered by the Pentagon’s healthcare system. With a total cost of $52 billion in 2012, the massive healthcare system covers around 10 million people. More prevalent among older men, over 90% of prescriptions for erectile dysfunction are written for retired military personnel.
Psychological Issues
Though less than 10% of erectile dysfunction prescriptions are written for active duty military personal, the disorder has increased since the Iraq and Afghanistan conflicts began. Psychological issues, specifically post-traumatic stress disorder (PTSD), are a major cause of erectile dysfunction and other sexual problems.
From a study published by the Journal of Sexual Medicine in 2015, male veterans with PTSD are significantly more likely than their civilian counterparts to experience erectile dysfunction. The Rand Corporation also reported that one in five veterans, serving in Iraq or Afghanistan, suffers from PTSD or a similar psychological disorder.
An increasingly common condition, heart disease, diabetes, and high blood pressure are all linked to erectile dysfunction. With an estimated 18%, as reported in 2007, of US men suffering from erectile dysfunction, it is unsurprising that a large amount of healthcare spending would be allocated for this prevalent disorder. Supplying healthcare to millions of men, both active duty and retired, results in huge amounts of money spent on male-specific health issues, specifically erectile dysfunction.