http://www.nationofchange.org/covering-all-basics-google-benefits-now-include-transgender-employees-1322147030Internet trend-setter Google has joined the ranks of those leading another trend: offering fully inclusive health care benefits to transgender employees. Effective immediately, the company’s employee benefits policies will cover all medically necessary procedures and services for transgender employees in accordance with the Standards of Care maintained by the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH). These procedures include treatments commonly related to gender transition, such as hormone therapy, reconstructive chest and genital surgery, and mental health services.
In addition to WPATH, the American Medical Association, the American Psychological Association, the Endocrine Society, and other major medical professional associations have determined that transition-related care is safe, effective, and medically necessary. However, access to these medically necessary services is limited for many transgender people by insurance exclusions that specifically deny coverage for care related to being transgender.
The vast majority of medically necessary services denied to transgender people by insurance industry exclusions are routinely covered for non-transgender people and are all likely to be part of the list of essential benefits to be determined by the Department of Health and Human Services in the spring. These services include:
– coverage for services that may be involved in gender transition but that are also often medically necessary for non-transgender people, such as hormone therapy, hysterectomy, mental health services, and reconstructive surgery
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