Please remove the stick that is apparently lodged in your ass. Trans-people would really, really like access to health care. I hate being denied treatment because I'm trans. (Exclusion #52 in my insurance's policy- Aetna Student Health: "Expense Incurred for, or related to, sex change surgery, or to any treatment of Gender Identity Disorder".) Also, I just love how the policy also makes sure not to allow any person with an affiliation with a trans-friendly medical provider be covered by your insurance. (Such as: Howard Brown Health Center and the Chicago Lake Shore Drive Hospital) Of course, this is common for insurance companies to do - just write off something that is a life-long condition as being trivial. Insurance will cover the purely cosmetic operation of plastic surgery, including implants, for a female woman who underwent a mastectomy because of the great psychological harm of missing pieces. (It is important to note that this does not work for the cosmetic operation independent of a mastectomy.) But if you happened to be born with missing pieces, well too bad. This plan also covers psychiatric care. I'm certain that Gender Identity Disorder falls under psychiatric care. It is not actually a disorder other than the harm caused by other people - this is similar to the 'diagnosis' of homosexuality having been removed from the DSM. In fact, I happen to be sure of the reason that "Gender Identity Disorder" as a diagnosis exists: to make it easier for trans-people to have access to health care through insurance companies. This obviously backfired because a trans-person used to have to work around the system, but it could be done. Now they have to be blocked within the healthcare system with no alternative other than illegal means to make these procedures affordable.
This wouldn't be so big of an issue if surgery was the only thing that this exclusion effected. The exclusion also excludes a person under their plan from seeking a mental health worker's or an endocrinologist's help. Many trans people die because of accidents involving self-administration of illegal steroids and silicone. I am really hoping that the new healthcare laws will get rid of this kind of ridiculous exclusion. This is a serious problem, even if non-trans people ignore it. The suicide attempt rate is as high as 50% with most of those people being between 7 and 20 years of age. I know I'm in that statistic. I'm also pretty sure that if there was just someone who I could have felt safe to talk with when I was going through puberty that I probably wouldn't have tried to kill myself because then I wouldn't have felt so alone. Of course I knew that other transsexuals existed. They existed as a joke and something to avoid, so I kept my feelings to myself. That didn't work out very well - it never does. The suicide rate among trans people is nearly 10%. For reference, the suicide rate among war veterans was at 2% when it suddenly became a big issue, yet no one cares that people are dying easily preventable deaths. Deaths that are preventable with psychological help and some basic medical treatment. Just try to get a gynecologist to take you as a patient when you pass as male. Good luck - unless they are trans-friendly, you'll be turned away at the door because it looks like a joke to them. It's all fun and games till you have cancer or need a surgery for something like appendicitis and can't be treated for it because the doctor is prejudiced.
P.S. In-community report Outsider's Report
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