Should gender reassignment surgery be covered by government healthcare?

[diddle]

http://www.thedailybeast.com/article...ssignment.html
http://www.usatoday.com/story/nation...nning/9506075/
http://news.yahoo.com/medicare-cover...165659894.html

"Ruling in favor of a 74-year-old Army veteran whose request to have Medicare pay for her genital reconstruction was denied two years ago, the agency's Departmental Appeals Board ruled that a three-decade-old HHS rule excluding such surgeries from the procedures covered by the national health program for the elderly and disabled was unjustified." From the bottom AP article

As the title says, what are your beliefs regarding this? I'm glad that these people are getting help but doesn't this create quite a precedent for medical services that should be covered? I suppose it really comes down to whether someone classifies this as a medical need. If cosmetic surgeries are considered medically required if there is significant psychological stress than this is a very significant precedent in regards to what qualifies for medicare etc.

[Iphie]

If I'm informed correctly about these procedures, aren't you supposed to show that you are 'trapped' in the wrong body? Suffering mentally and such? I suppose on that basis I could say that yes, it should be covered, but as I said, I'm not sure about the complete procedure.

[GreatOak]

I'd say no, since it's cosmetic surgery.

[Rukentuts]

Medication/therapy yes, cosmetic surgery no.

[Ammeg]

Simply put, if someone can get breast enlargements on the NHS (government healthcare) then hell fucking yes, you bloody well should be able to get gender reassignment surgery. Not to mention that it would possibly help save the lives of those who suffer from alienation of their own bodies as they do not believe that the body is theirs due to feeling more male/female than they want to and wishing to feel happier in themselves.

There are many things that annoy me about the breast enlargements however, so I will keep my little ball of rage inside.

[Halicia]

it straddles the border between cosmetic and medical surgeries, with scenarios on both sides to make it difficulty (or impossible) to apply a blanket ruling.

[GreatOak]

Simply put, if someone can get breast enlargements on the NHS (government healthcare) then hell fucking yes, you bloody well should be able to get gender reassignment surgery. There are many things that annoy me about the breast enlargements however, so I will keep my little ball of rage inside.

Providing cosmetic boob implants for people who aren't deformed is pretty fucking dumb, imo

[MerinPally]

Depends what you classify it as, hard to say.

Some places do this, strangely Iran is one of them.

[Deleted]

No, govt healthcare should only cover things that are necesarry for survival

[DakonBlackblade]

No, this is not a public health issue its 100% the guy/girls choice.

[Ammeg]

Providing cosmetic boob implants for people who aren't deformed is pretty fucking dumb, imo

Agreed, I think the ONLY people who should be allowed breast work should be those who a) have a deformity or b) had to have a mastectomy due to cancer or other reasons.
You only have to search for things like "josie cunningham nhs" on google to see the uproar it causes as well.

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No, this is not a public health issue its 100% the guy/girls choice. Should breast implants and facelifts be covered by government health care ?

They are covered by the government healthcare. Many stories about it all over the world.

[Rukentuts]

You only have to search for things like "josie cunningham nhs" on google to see the uproar it causes as well.

Next thing you know we'll be using "mental disorders" to blackmail the government for money directly. I'm depressed, I need to be independently wealthy.

[GreatOak]

No, this is not a public health issue its 100% the guy/girls choice.

Also strange how a lot of the people people that think having a penis/vagina/chromosomes doesn't make a man/woman (technically true in certain cases) also think that they need srs to "truly" be a man or a woman, but I digress.

[Nadiru]

Depends what you classify it as, hard to say.

Some places do this, strangely Iran is one of them.

It's not strange at all. They bully and force effeminate men to get sex changes because Iran (Islamic countries in general) is way more hardcore about enforcing gender roles than any western country. Of course, after it's done you're a woman in an Islamic country, so who cares about your opinion anyway.

I wouldn't hold it up as a shining example of progressive thought in the Middle East, honestly.

[randomnamegenerator16]

O course it should not. If public healthcare must exist, then it should only cover things that save life or improve it (like prosthesis etc). Facelifting, breast implants, in vitro or gender reassignment - it's only a whim I do not wish to pay for.

[Rizendragon]

http://www.thedailybeast.com/article...ssignment.html
http://www.usatoday.com/story/nation...nning/9506075/
http://news.yahoo.com/medicare-cover...165659894.html

"Ruling in favor of a 74-year-old Army veteran whose request to have Medicare pay for her genital reconstruction was denied two years ago, the agency's Departmental Appeals Board ruled that a three-decade-old HHS rule excluding such surgeries from the procedures covered by the national health program for the elderly and disabled was unjustified." From the bottom AP article

As the title says, what are your beliefs regarding this? I'm glad that these people are getting help but doesn't this create quite a precedent for medical services that should be covered? I suppose it really comes down to whether someone classifies this as a medical need. If cosmetic surgeries are considered medically required if there is significant psychological stress than this is a very significant precedent in regards to what qualifies for medicare etc.

If I'm informed correctly about these procedures, aren't you supposed to show that you are 'trapped' in the wrong body? Suffering mentally and such? I suppose on that basis I could say that yes, it should be covered, but as I said, I'm not sure about the complete procedure.

Beyond veterans I would say no (so yes for vets no for pretty much everyone else). I'm against gov't sponsored healthcare (The US VA system and the sluggish Canadian systems are my main examples of why) as a main reason, and for a secondary reason I believe it is on the customer (patients are receiving a service and therefore are customers) to provide payment for something that at the end of the day is a cosmetic thing. You can be psychologically trapped in a different gender's body and still express yourself psychologically as that gender without the surgery.

Fire away flame trolls...

[Deleted]

A tricky question

[Deleted]

no never ever.

[Deleted]

You can be psychologically trapped in a different gender's body and still express yourself psychologically as that gender without the surgery.

I think you should ask a psychologist how that turns out in most situations (hint: lifelong depressions or suicide). Or they could get the surgery and live a long happy prosperous life, where they pay taxes that far exceeds the cost of the surgery.

[Xar226]

I'll be the first one to admit I don't particularly understand what people who want gender reassignment are thinking or feeling, but I have no trouble believing that it can cause some serious mental health issues. Given my own experience with mental health issues, I can say with certainty that they are every bit as real and as dangerous as a physical sickness, and in fact they can cause physical illness.

So, I feel it should be covered to the same degree that other mental health issues are covered within the same system. If they cover pills and therapy and such for mental health, then they should cover this if the person's mental health evaluators agree it is the proper course.