According to the Huffington Post pretty soon more employers will be covering a variety of transgender surgery procedures. According to the 2012 Corporate Equality Index their will soon be a stringent requirement to help those seeking out any transgender surgery procedures.
It is clear that something needs to be done in order change the process of how a transgender patient applies for medical coverage for the surgical procedure.
According to the Huffington Post a recent survey was conducted:
The consequence of this is shocking. The recent National Transgender Discrimination Survey — Report on Health and Health Careshowed that 19 percent of the respondents of all ages were refused care because of their transgender or gender non-conforming status, 28 percent were subject to harassment in medical settings, and 2 percent were victims of violence in doctor’s offices.
It’s unclear if all 337 employers who scored 100 percent in the 2011 CEI survey will be able to arrange for the new coverage in time. The chief diversity officer of one employer told me that adding the coverage is his number one priority in 2011. Yet I’m guessing the change is big enough that some companies will fall from 100 percent in 2012.
There are still a great deal of obstacles and hurdles that transgender patients will most likely have to endure in order to actually have surgical procedures reimbursed or approved but the wheels are finally spinning in the right direction. As time moves forward these types of insurance claims will become a bit more streamlined but we will just all have to wait until that time comes.
