Argthtjtr

Healthcare plans are not limited to work related problems. They are a benefit, like flexible working hours or no dress code.

If the plan covers it, there is no reason to not use it.

is it unethical to use the healthcare package to cure a problem that is personal [....]

No, not in general and definitely not in your case. It's completely ethical and you are expected to make use of that policy / fund for your individual betterment (for health care). Any organization, wants their employees to be fit, active and healthy - this increases productivity and positive vibe in the organization.

Health issues are always personal (or, individual). I believe it's just the nature of the health issue (a simple flu or viral fever over your eye surgery) that is causing you the the dilemma. I, personally do not see anything unethical in using company provided fund to treat a real problem you have. If not today, it will help you in long run, thereby also having a positive effect on the organization by having a healthier version of you.

[...] requires me to wear glasses to be able to do any kind of task personal or professional.

I'd say, that's reason enough to go ahead. For sake of argument, your professional work will be improved (the degree, well, depends).

is it unethical to use the healthcare package to cure a problem that is personal and does not affect my professional duties?

No.

Paid healthcare is compensation, like salary. A good sanity check for questions like this is to ask if it's unethical to use your salary for your operation. Certainly not.

It seems you're thinking of your healthcare benefits as a side effect of having a job, and you are afraid of exploiting it. A made-up example is using the fact that your office has power outlets to plug in a crypto-mining computer. This is unethical because you are exploiting something the business provides for a not-intended use that causes the company harm for your benefit.

Your benefits package was meant to be used for healthcare costs, so there is no question of ethics.

It's up to the healthcare provider to either allow or disallow claims based on the details of the policy/cost/whatever.

Ethics doesn't play a part in that decision, it's just whether or not the condition/injury is covered or not. It's as simple as that.

Ethics might come into play if you happened to join a company with the sole intention of using the healthcare benefit to cure your ailment.

Health Insurance is created to cover part of the cost of your medical care - it does not (or more specifically should not) exclude any conditions you may have had before getting that health care.

That being said - if there are any concerns with coverage, you should address this with your doctor and your insurance - not with Workplace.se.

More specifically, you should see if your company has a health insurance consultant for you to talk to about this issue, and if not then you should contact the insurance company directly regarding your vision issues. You are right to be concerned, but the concern should be whether or not your insurance will cover it for you - not whether or not it would be 'unethical'.

You're paying for it already by buying the insurance. The only question you should have now is whether or not the insurance program will in fact cover it as you expect.

In this case, is it unethical to use the healthcare package to cure a problem that is personal and does not affect my professional duties?

It's unclear what country you're in. I do not see how or why you can only use medical healthcare only when it aids in your duties as a employee.

You're really asking if pre-existing conditions should be included with your current health plan. I think anything can be rationalized as "pre-existing" if you think about. If you get sick, that means your immune system has a pre-existing condition where it doesn't know how to fight the new illness since it never discovered it yet. Would that mean you can't go to the doctor? I'd hope not.

I don't think it is unethical, you pay for it. Also, it is such a bonus you may want to search when your searching for a job.

Please also note that I don't expect that the company really pays for your operation. I think it is like an insurance: you pay a monthly amount, your company may-be also pay another monthly amount. Overall the insurance chooses an amount to make their business work.

Background: my father has such an healthcare program (Italy). He paid a monthly amount, and his company also paid another monthly amount. The healthcase program protected also relatives. As a child with less than 25 years old, I got my eyes fixed.