IJ TRANSGENDER - XVII HBGIDA - Abstract - Medicaid and Medicare Prohibitions Against Coverage for SRS and Related Treatments and Procedures

Editors:
Friedemann Pfäfflin,
Ulm University, Germany

Walter O. Bockting,
University of Minnesota, USA

Eli Coleman,
University of Minnesota, USA

Richard Ekins,
University of Ulster at Coleraine, UK

Dave King,
University of Liverpool, UK

Managing Editor:
Noelle N Gray,
University of Minnesota, USA

Editorial Assistant:
Erin Pellett,
University of Minnesota, USA

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ISSN 1434-4599

XVII Harry Benjamin International Gender Dysphoria Association Symposium
31 October - 4 November 2001, Galveston, Texas, U.S.A.

Medicaid and Medicare Prohibitions Against Coverage for SRS and Related Treatments and Procedures

LEVI, JENNIFER U.S.A.
Co-author: Shannon Minter (U.S.A.)

This presentation will cover the legal landscape regarding prohibitions against Medicaid and Medicare coverage for sex-reassignment surgery and treatments and procedures related to it. The reason for the existing prohibitions against coverage are based on outdated and unscientific conclusions that SRS is cosmetic and medically unnecessary. The presenters will discuss the history behind these exclusions, with particular regard to the role played by misunderstanding and misuse of medical research, as well as some recent court cases relying on more recent and accurate medical research to successfully challenge these exclusions. The presenters will also talk about the need for medical and legal professionals to collaborate in order to comprehensively address the unprincipled exclusions from coverage.