Medicare Shoulders Cost Of 74-Year-Old’s Sex Change Procedure From Woman To Man

Denee Mallon of Albuquerque, New Mexico, just made medical history by having Medicare cover the cost of her sex reassignment surgery and probably being the oldest who had undergone sex change at age 74.

YouTube/Saruhan Yasar

Mallon, who was born in early 1940s was aware of her different sexual preference as a young girl but coming out was hardly the norm then. She instead entered into a heterosexual marriage thrice, had five children and went on with life as a normal woman, reports Inquistr.

In the 1970s and 1980s, when she was in her 30s and 40s and could afford a sex change procedure, she tried looking for a doctor who could perform the surgery she couldn't find one. She found one in the late 1980s, but by then she had ran out of money.

In 2012, when she was already a septuagenarian, Mallon applied for coverage of the procedure with a secondary private insurer and then with a government insurance programme and was rejected by both. She went to court and challenged Medicare.

In 1989, Medicare banned covering sex reassignment procedures because of lack of well-controlled and long-term studies on the surgery's effectiveness and safety as well as its accompanying therapies. Medicare considered the treatment experimental with a high rate of serious complications.

At her age, Mallon could definitely not afford the $25,000 to $100,000 cost of the procedure since her sole income was $650 monthly social security cheque which goes to her daily expenses, including paying for half of the rental for a trailer that she shares with a transgender woman.

The legal challenge took 18 months and she won after she produced evidence that sexual reassignment procedures are safe and effective. Because of her lawsuit, Medicare and the HHS changed their guidelines and paid for her surgery.

LGBT communities see her case as a step closer to acquiring equal rights for transgendered people.

Mallon, who had the surgery in Chicago in October, told NBC two days after the procedure, "I feel congruent, like I'm finally one complete human being where my body matches my innermost feelings, my psyche ... I feel complete."

To contact the writer, email: v.hernandez@ibtimes.com.au