Sex Change Surgery Gets Enhanced Cover From US Insurance Firms: Obama Regime's Policy Change Became The Trigger

More insurance companies in the U. S are coming forward to offer medical cover for gender reassignment surgery or called as sex change surgery, The insurance industry has expanded the offers as well as its reach. This spurt comes on the back of the lifting of a ban on medicare coverage for the same in June this year. The U.S-based Insurer Aetna became the latest to come out with a comprehensive 2015 health plan that offers federal workers the coverage for sex-change operation.

Change In Norms

It was in June this year the Obama administration lifted the 33-year old ban on Medicare coverage for gender reassignment surgery. The decision has been hailed as a major victory for transgender rights, reported Washington Post. This marked a departure from the past, when the federal government used to exclude the cost of services, drugs and supplies on sex transformations. Following the change in norms, the health insurers modified their offerings to include breast-and-genital surgery in changing a man into a woman, or vice versa.

An official medical advisory was also issued to all insurers by Mr. John O'Brien, Director, Healthcare and Insurance at the U.S. Office of Personnel Management, in his June 13 bulletin that said, "there is consensus that gender reassignment treatment is medically necessary for certain individuals who are diagnosed for Gender Identity Disorder or Gender Dysphoria,"

O'Brien's advisory was binding on all health insurers selling policies on the Federal Employee Health Programmes and serving nearly 9 million federal employees, retirees and family members. It may be noted that the coverage for federal employees is funded by U.S. taxpayer dollars even as employees are also required to pay a portion of the premiums.

Role Of Advocacy Groups

Besides the official policy change that prodded insurers into funding sex-change surgeries, advocacy groups also played a role in making insurance cover a reality. Groups like Human Rights Campaign's Corporate Equality Index that rates the U.S. workplaces for lesbian, gay, bisexual and transgender equality had a good role in it. The data issued by Corporate Equality Index showed a substantial rise in the number of employers offering "transgender inclusive health care coverage". Now there is at least one health plan by employers that covers gender reassignment surgery. The growth rate has been gradual, with the number of employer companies offering inclusive insurance growing from 49 in 2009 to 340 this year. Commented Deena Fidas, Director, Workplace Equality Programme, "the private sector is leading the coverage comprehensively", according to a report in Courant.

Aetna Outreach

Although the updated offerings have Aetna broadening the cover for gender reassignment surgery, it had started it in a limited way in 2009 itself for the sake of employees and contracting companies as part of a benefits package, claimed Aetna spokeswoman Cynthia Michener.

"In 2015 in our fully insured plans, we expect the benefit to reach West Virginia, Utah, Idaho, Missouri, Wyoming, Nebraska, Iowa, Louisiana, South Carolina," Michener said in a statement.

In a fully insured plan, it is the insurer who will be paying the medical claims after taking a premium, unlike self-insured employers who have to pay up the medical claims but designate the insurer to act as an administrator of the plan. Most of the large employers in the U. S are self-insured. The self-insured employers are regulated by the U.S. Department of Labour.