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LEFT WING LOONS Title: Plan Targets Healthcare Bias Against Transgender People The long-delayed rule amounts to a manual for carrying out the health laws 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 Obamas 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. Were 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. Its 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 theyve been told that [the hospital doesnt] 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 its 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 theyre 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 shouldnt 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 ones gender identity. Post Comment Private Reply Ignore Thread Top Page Up Full Thread Page Down Bottom/Latest Begin Trace Mode for Comment # 6.
#4. To: Justified (#0)
Ok, I was like WTF over this, so I googled. The female Pap smear is a screening test for cervical cancer, which is a sexually-induced cancer caused by the Human Papillomavirus. The Human Papillomavirus is also easily transmitted to the anus in men who have sex with men. Anal Pap smears screen for abnormal anal cells that may lead to anal cancer. So, we get to pay for this twisted sh-t? Jeez...
Indeed, your Constitution COMMANDS it!
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