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Title: Plan Targets Healthcare Bias Against Transgender People
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URL Source: https://www.yahoo.com/health/plan-t ... -against-1249562754768950.html
Published: Sep 5, 2015
Author: Jennifer Gerson Uffalussy
Post Date: 2015-09-05 12:21:18 by Justified
Keywords: None
Views: 1004
Comments: 7
The long-delayed rule amounts to a manual for carrying out the health law’s prohibition against medical discrimination on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability. (Photo: Getty Images) Mirroring a shift in society, the Obama administration proposed Thursday to ban discrimination against transgender people throughout the health care system. Once the proposed regulations are final, they should expand insurance coverage for gender transition and prohibit health care facilities from denying transgender people access to restrooms that match their individual gender identity. The Obama administration proposed new regulations for the Affordable Care Act (ACA), known colloquially as Obamacare, to include gender identity as a category in which medical discrimination is banned. Currently, medical discrimination is illegal on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex, age, or disability. Adding gender identity to this list would ensure not only that trans citizens cannot be denied access to the same basic healthcare services as all other Americans because of who they are, but also may ultimately ensure that insurance companies must cover gender reassignment surgery for trans persons who desire it. The new protections are part of a broader rule from the Department of Health and Human Services to carry out anti-bias provisions of President Barack Obama’s health care law. In a first, the law specified that sex discrimination is prohibited in health care, and the regulation carries it a step further, clarifying that “gender identity” is included under that protective umbrella. “We’re in the midst of a moment of dramatic change for trans people in the United States,” Sarah Warbelow, the Legal Director of the Human Rights Campaign (HRC), tells Yahoo Health. “I want to be cautious, though – not all changes seen at the policy level have trickled down to real world experience for trans people. There is a lag between policy change, change of consciousness, and changes in the day-to-day experiences of trans people.” The new transgender policy comes as social attitudes about sexuality and gender are undergoing major changes. The Supreme Court recognized a constitutional right for same-sex couples to marry, and the gender transition of Olympian Bruce Jenner from male to female - Caitlyn - has brought new awareness about a group often ostracized by society. Warbelow says the new ACA regulations would be an especially dramatic step change for trans individuals. “It seems strange to say, but this particular policy can mean the difference between life or death for trans people,” she says. “It’s not often that policy has that clear of an impact for individuals – but this does. This means that trans people cannot be turned away when they go to health care facilities including hospitals. I have heard stories of trans women going to the hospital for something like a twisted ankle and turned away because they’ve been told that [the hospital doesn’t] know how to handle healthcare for trans people. But an ankle is just an ankle.” The other biggest impact of the new regulations, in addition to ensuring non-discrimination for routine and emergency care, will be the ability of trans people to access necessary medical care — even when it’s not consistent with their gender identity. Advocates for transgender people note that insurers already pay for services such as hormone treatments and reconstructive surgery, but decline to cover them when they’re part of a gender transition. “What the rule says is they cannot exclude transgender people from the services that other people have,” said Harper Jean Tobin, policy director for the National Center for Transgender Equality. “A trans man may need a pap smear,” explains Warbelow, “But he shouldn’t be denied coverage [for that procedure] just because his medical form says “male.”” While the new regulations would not explicitly yield the coverage of these procedures, their implementation could result in legal challenges should trans individuals be denied coverage of such services by their insurance companies – or, in other words, if their insurance companies refuse coverage for a procedure made necessary by one’s gender identity.
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#3. To: Justified (#0)
Bruce identifies as a female but still likes women sexually. Plus, he hasn't had a sex change. So, what restroom would you have him use? Facebook lists 51 gender identities for members to use to describe themselves. Should we have 51 different restrooms? 51 different locker rooms?
#7. To: misterwhite (#3)
Top • Page Up • Full Thread • Page Down • Bottom/Latest"and the gender transition of Olympian Bruce Jenner from male to female - Caitlyn -"
Replies to Comment # 3. So, what restroom would you have him/her/it use?
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