Medical Insurance for us? Not on your Life!
Tuesday, November 27th, 2007I sit here…waiting for the bigwigs at our insurance company to decide whether or not they will pay for my top surgery. If I was getting a different kind of surgery, and if I had not been on the radar already for being Trans-related, then I probably would have heard back already. But as it stands now, I am still waiting…is that a bad thing? What does that mean? 
Seriously though, it seems like for Trans-related issues, medical insurance does not want to touch SRS (sexual reassignment surgery) and would rather not pay for anything at all.
The Transgender Law Center website has an excellent article about this, including what insurance companies need to do to not discriminate against Transgender people. Here are some great excerpts about it:
“Many transgender people are denied health insurance coverage altogether solely because they are transgender. Most transgender people who apply for private health insurance on their own (not through a group plan with their work or school) have been denied coverage if the insurance company is aware of their transgender status. “
“Transgender people who have managed to acquire health insurance cannot get coverage for any services that are related to being transsexual or transgender. Almost every public and private health insurance program has exclusionary language in their contractual terms such as:
“The medical system only recognizes the existence of males and females. This creates problems for many transgender people whose bodies do not fit the standard male/female model. For instance, health insurance companies require that everyone identify themselves as either male or female.”
As you can see, the odds are stacked against us in the health care, and medical insurance arena. We have to fight our way through for every little right we get–as if being human isn’t enough to get the basic rights. Oh wait–it isn’t! The entire world is bent on rights for some, but not all, of humanity. Only the “normal”–rich, white, and straight, plus those whose identity fits their bodies they live–have rights. The rest of us either stand up and protest for every little right gets thrown our way, or sit down, shut up and take it. Is that any way to treat anyone??
