Scan Medical Insurance

Should gender reassignment surgery be covered under employee health insurance?

"Last year, 85 companies had insurance plans that paid for gender reassignment surgeries, and only 49 did in 2009. A decade ago, when the campaign launched the index, none did. The major force behind the jump is the fact that this is the first year the Human Rights Campaign graded corporations and law firms on whether their medical plans paid for the full complement of procedures workers might need to transition to a new gender on the job, from psychological counseling to physical reconstruction. To maintain a coveted 100 percent and a listing in the campaign’s preferred vendors’ guide for gay, lesbian, bisexual, and transgender consumers, companies had to offer at least one insurance plan that covers at least $75,000 worth of surgery and other treatments recommended by a patient’s doctor." http://www.baywindows.com/index.php?ch=news&sc=glbt&sc2=news&sc3=&id=127844

Public Comments

1. Hell no. Personal choices don't count. Can someone get breast implants on employee health insurence?
2. No, most plans don't even cover dental anymore we don't need to give companies any more incentive to just drop us all because some heshe wants to be a shehe
3. hmmm good question..let us know when you hear back from your insurance company. lolzzzz
4. No its cosmetic! I can't get coverage to get my melanoma skin cancerous moles off free! (And that has threatened my life a few times) Or free tits! No I would be ticked to see someone have the doc cut or add unmentionables & get free required coverage while I pay out pocket to remove a health hazard! You wanna change your sex then save the $ & pay for it yourself. Health insurance is meant as a back up to aid in health not sexual identity.
5. I don't see why they shouldn't. It's a legitimate medical issue and you have to go through a lot of evaluations and therapy to get the surgery. It's not done on a whim or "just because."
6. No, gender reassignment surgery should not be covered under employee health insurance. What should be covered are medical procedures that will enable a developing fetus to be born in the "right body" to prevent any physical mutilation later on in life. We all know we are born in the right body, some of us do not develop the brain that suits our sexual orientation.
7. No. Personal choices should not count, only necessary medical procedures should be covered. If my company's health insure won't cover a boob job (if I ever wanted to get one) then no way should gender reassignment be allowed. Also, considering the recovery time would almost be the same as maternity leave.
8. I don't think that a procedure that is elective needs to be covered like that. Gender identity disorder is a diagnosed condition, however there are no medical or physical consequences to not having surgery.
9. I don't see why not...Our navy even pays for breast implants, for purely psychological reasons, of course :/
10. No, because we shouldn't have employer-based health insurance. It's a ridiculous system and we need to switch.
11. Of course it should. The cost to cover all the gender confirmation surgeries, facial feminization surgeries, hormone therapy, psychotherapy, and other associated expenses for all the Transsexual people in America wouldn't even cost as much as the massive number of bypass surgeries done each year for people who CHOOSE to eat garbage diets and lay around like lumps on a log. Why is it okay to cover diseases of excess and poor lifestyles under insurance, but not to cover a physical birth condition a person has no control over. Transsexualism is essentially no different from cleft lip & palate syndrome. All physical birth conditions should be covered by insurance, PERIOD.
12. of course not. in a sane medical system, employers would not need to take out private medical insurance to cover something that should be covered by society.
13. Considering it is the only proven medical treatment for the congenital birth condition known as transsexualism…. YES. For the nay sayers here: If it's part of an insurance plan that means the employee getting such treatment has paid into the system, so it is by no means free. Also it is NOT a choice, transsexualism is a birth condition. I don't care if you don't care if you stick your fingers in your ears and are going "Na-na-na-na-na can't hear you" it's still TRUE. Here's a link to educate yourselves: http://ai.eecs.umich.edu/people/conway/TS/TS.html#anchor107763 That would be SCIENCE talking. So you have to ask yourself why you're being so phobic if science says you're wrong. .