On Friday, the Department of Health and Human Services ended a 33-year ban on Medicare covering gender reassignment surgery. As The Washington Post notes, the decision by DHHS marks "a major victory for transgender rights ... that is likely to put pressure on more insurers to provide coverage" for such surgeries.
The DHHS ruling came after Denee Mallon, 74, a transgender woman and army veteran, filed a lawsuit to have Medicare cover her gender reassignment surgery. The lawsuit – officially filed on her behalf by the American Civil Liberties Union, Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, and the National Center for Lesbian Rights – precipitated DHHS to reexamine this longstanding ban and, ultimately, rule to end it.
As the Post explains, this ban was put in place during a time in which such procedures were considered experimental and discussions on transgender rights were virtually nonexistent.
The blanket Medicare ban was put in place in 1981 when such surgeries were considered experimental. But now most medical groups, including the American Medical Association and the American Psychological Association, consider it a safe option.
[...]
On Friday, the independent board, whose decisions are binding on HHS, said that medical studies published over the past three decades showed that the grounds for exclusion of coverage are “not reasonable” anymore and lifted the ban.
While this ruling may be more symbolic than practical – a small percentage of Americans opt for such surgeries, and an even smaller percentage of Americans over the age of 65 – it is significant for two reasons. First, it establishes a major precedent, normalizing coverage of such procedures in the insurance industry, which often follows Medicare's lead. Second, it is a powerful validation of transgender rights, and a strong message of repudiation to those conservative organizations, such as the Family Research Council and the National Organization for Marriage, which pressured the Obama administration in the past to maintain the ban.
The ruling also coincides with this week's cover story for TIME, "The Transgender Tipping Point," which features the story of Laverne Cox, star of Orange is the New Black.
Cox told TIME:
There’s not just one trans story. There’s not just one trans experience. And I think what they need to understand is that not everybody who is born feels that their gender identity is in alignment with what they’re assigned at birth, based on their genitalia. If someone needs to express their gender in a way that is different, that is OK, and they should not be denied healthcare. They should not be bullied. They don’t deserve to be victims of violence … That’s what people need to understand, that it’s okay and that if you are uncomfortable with it, then you need to look at yourself.
It's something the Obama administration has helped to validate and concretize with the DHHS ruling:
if someone needs to express their gender in a way that is different, that is OK, and they should not be denied healthcare.
Indeed.
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David Harris-Gershon is author of the memoir What Do You Buy the Children of the Terrorist Who Tried to Kill Your Wife?, just out from Oneworld Publications.