Medicare Win Opens Door for Transgender Seniors
CHICAGO — Denee Mallon marveled at the view of Lake Michigan from her hospital bed in the Windy City, where she had just made history: the then 74-year-old transgender woman underwent a milestone sex reassignment surgery she'd sought for decades. "Here I am, finally, after all these years," she said. "It happened."
Her operation will be one of the first paid for by Medicare after she won a challenge in May to end the government insurance program's ban on covering such procedures for transgender individuals. Mallon's victory opened the door for other seniors to access this care and may influence whether more insurers - private and public - will cover them. LGBT advocates also hailed her case as another step forward to securing equal rights for transgender people.
The Medicare decision comes as the number of private insurance companies offering transition-related coverage has surged in recent years. Human Rights Campaign, which advocates for LGBT equality, said about 34 percent of the Fortune 500 companies today — up from 10 percent in 2009 — offer transgender-inclusive health care benefits, including surgical. Many employers have started to address coverage for transgender individuals, and most have experienced little to no premium increases as a result, HRC said in its annual Corporate Equality Index.
Five states' Medicaid programs — California, Massachusetts, Vermont, the District of Columbia and Oregon — cover transgender health services, including sex reassignment surgery, in their plans for lower-income and disabled people. Ten states have banned health insurance discrimination against transgender people (the five listed above plus Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Washington, and most recently, New York).
The hope, transgender advocates say, is that the Medicare decision will encourage more Medicaid programs and private insurers to offer coverage.
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcnews.com ...
CHICAGO — Denee Mallon marveled at the view of Lake Michigan from her hospital bed in the Windy City, where she had just made history: the then 74-year-old transgender woman underwent a milestone sex reassignment surgery she'd sought for decades. "Here I am, finally, after all these years," she said. "It happened."
Her operation will be one of the first paid for by Medicare after she won a challenge in May to end the government insurance program's ban on covering such procedures for transgender individuals. Mallon's victory opened the door for other seniors to access this care and may influence whether more insurers - private and public - will cover them. LGBT advocates also hailed her case as another step forward to securing equal rights for transgender people.
The Medicare decision comes as the number of private insurance companies offering transition-related coverage has surged in recent years. Human Rights Campaign, which advocates for LGBT equality, said about 34 percent of the Fortune 500 companies today — up from 10 percent in 2009 — offer transgender-inclusive health care benefits, including surgical. Many employers have started to address coverage for transgender individuals, and most have experienced little to no premium increases as a result, HRC said in its annual Corporate Equality Index.
Five states' Medicaid programs — California, Massachusetts, Vermont, the District of Columbia and Oregon — cover transgender health services, including sex reassignment surgery, in their plans for lower-income and disabled people. Ten states have banned health insurance discrimination against transgender people (the five listed above plus Colorado, Connecticut, Illinois, Washington, and most recently, New York).
The hope, transgender advocates say, is that the Medicare decision will encourage more Medicaid programs and private insurers to offer coverage.
(Excerpt) Read more at nbcnews.com ...
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