State health insurers will not be able to deny coverage for gender reassignment surgery, according to an announcement from Gov. Andrew Cuomo”™s office Thursday.
Cuomo and the state Department of Financial Services have issued new guidelines for health insurance companies that will bar them from denying transgender care, including treatment for gender dysphoria, the medical term for people born of one sex but identifying with the other.
Under previous guidelines, insurers could reject gender dysphoria treatments regardless of whether a doctor determined them to be medically necessary. Treatments must now undergo the same reviews as other treatments but cannot be disqualified for coverage solely because they are for gender dysphoria, according to a letter to state insurance companies.
“By taking this action, we are ensuring that principle rightfully extends to transgender people across our state and continuing New York”™s legacy as a progressive leader for the nation,” Cuomo said. New York is the ninth state to enact anti-transgender discrimination health insurance regulations. Washington, D.C., also has taken similar action.
The Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund issued a statement in support of the new guidelines but urged state officials to remove exclusions of transgender health care in Medicaid, the low-income government insurance program.
“Transgender Medicaid recipients are some of New York”™s most vulnerable citizens,” Michael Silverman, the fund”™s executive director, said. “They must be able to access medically necessary care.”
