(Original entry 8/29/04)
This entry is a so long that AOL requires that it be split. I apologize for that, but I was asked to write it and I think it’s an important topic of discussion. I know most of you will be bored to tears – just skip this entry if it doesn’t appeal to you. BTW, I have begun, during this break between semesters, of evaluating an alternative to AOL Journals for my blog. [Ed note: As you now see; I've completed that process!)
Over a month ago (and then in a follow-up comment to this post), I got an e-mail from a person who lived in San Francisco when that city amended its city employees insurance policy to cover transsexual health care, including surgery. She said that she did not understand that decision as she felt it was a personal choice; she asked me to comment on it. I will do that now.
First, the disclaimers. As she correctly pointed out in her e-mail to me I am NOT the spokesperson for the transsexual community. Also, I am not conversant in all the issues surrounding this topic and I don’t have access to all the necessary statistics to give a truly objective and reasoned analysis. This is, therefore, just one (transsexual) woman’s opinion. Also, I am most intimately familiar with the process for a Male-to-Female (MTF) transsexual, but I will comment where I am able on the differences from my Female-to-Male (FTM) brethren.
Should transsexual surgery be covered under group insurance plans? Asked another way – should the rest of society bear the cost of a surgical intervention to “correct” a person’s dissatisfaction with his/her sex or societal sex role?
What are the things that would be relevant to understand in answering such a question? For starters, what about:
· a basic understanding of transsexualism
· the cost of transsexual treatment protocol and surgery
· the incidence of transsexualism in society, or more simply in a given group insurance plan?
Obviously, I cannot do justice to any of those topics in this little space, but the question was about my opinion, so I will share that.
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