Posted on 05/30/2014 5:02:01 PM PDT by 2ndDivisionVet
The taxpayer-funded agency in question is Medicare, so if you have a grandma or grandpa whos itching to endure complex surgery and hormone therapy to rid themselves of a gender theyve already lived with for 65 years or more, good news. Help is on the way.
Sort of.
The Department of Health and Human Services Departmental Appeals Board, an internal review structure within the byzantine federal agency, issued a ruling that ended a ban on Medicare even considering covering sex reassignment surgery and related care because a fear of serious complications resulting from the experimental surgery. That language was issued in 1981, and most medical professional organizations now consider sex reassignment surgery a safe and accepted procedure. The DAB ruling noted the change in how sex reassignment surgery is understood 33 years after the Medicare ban was issued
Experts say the change to Medicare could have far-reaching implications for American medicine, helping to drive more private insurers to offer coverage for sex reassignment surgery and related care. Though it fits within President Obamas promise to make the government fairer to LGBT Americans, the DAB announcement was a relatively quiet one. The White House did not trumpet the move, and advocates for the change issued a joint statement hailing it but downplaying it as a revolutionary change for transgender people, instead casting it as bringing Medicare up to speed with the rest of the medical profession.
The demand for sex-reassignment surgery among septuagenarians is small, as you might expect, and the new ruling doesnt guarantee that a request for coverage will be granted as medically necessary. It simply says that Medicare is no longer required to deny coverage. Its a gesture, designed to nudge Obamas new best friends in the insurance industry to follow suit and to impress his base, particularly during a week when transsexuals are already in the news. And its not the first time hes used health-care policy for ideological/gestural reasons, either. (Heres another gesture in the news, albeit outside the health-care realm.) Releasing this today, with the public distracted by Shinseki and the VA, is a smart bit of media management by the White House and HHS. People who care about this subject will notice. Most people who dont, wont.
Is sex-reassignment surgery ever medically necessary? Maybe:
For someone who cannot get treatment the impact can be devastating, Levi said. They can be depressed, have serious problems with self-esteem and have difficulty working and forming social relationships, she said.
In some ways the ruling on Friday was more important from a symbolic standpoint than a practical one. Only a small percentage of the population is estimated to be transgender and various surveys have shown that very few opt for surgical interventions. As a result, several studies have shown that the cost which can be anywhere from $10,000 or more per surgery to insurers is often negligible.
The Army recently refused to provide Bradley/Chelsea Manning with taxpayer-funded reassignment surgery but has begun to look into transferring him to a civilian prison so that he can get treatment. Thats an interesting accommodation for a person whos doing time for espionage.
To fully grasp the political significance of this gesture, have a look at WaPos digest of Gallups new poll on moral issues. On the question of whether homosexuality is morally acceptable (not a perfect proxy for transgender issues but close enough), Republicans have barely shifted since 2005. Thirty-six percent found it acceptable nine years ago versus 39 percent now, a spread thats within the margin of error. Its Democrats who have moved considerably, from 51 percent agreement in 2005 to 71 percent now. The White House is getting right with its base before the midterms in ways large and, in this case, small.
Update: While were on the subject of gay-themed flashpoints in the culture wars, news today from Colorado:
Colorados Civil Rights Commission on Friday ordered a baker to make wedding cakes for same-sex couples, finding his religious objections to the practice did not trump the states anti-discrimination statutes
Phillips, a devout Christian who owns the Masterpiece Cakeshop in the Denver suburb of Lakewood, said the decision violates his First Amendment rights to free speech and free exercise of his religion. I will stand by my convictions until somebody shuts me down, he told reporters after the ruling.
He added his bakery has been so overwhelmed by supporters eager to buy cookies and brownies that he does not currently make wedding cakes.
Rather than fine him or force him to pay damages, theyre actually going to force him to provide a product he doesnt currently offer? Compulsory labor? Or, as I suspect, is the order here just a procedural formality to fine him when he inevitably refuses to make the cake? The states discrimination statute should provide that remedy already, I would think.
By the way, he says hes perfectly willing to serve gay customers, just not for a wedding. I believe thats also true of other bakers and photographers whove run afoul of state discrimination laws. Unless Im mistaken, no ones categorically refused to accept gay customers a la racist business owners refusing to accept blacks 50 years ago. A belated exit question via Ben Domenech: If gay marriage is illegal in Colorado, how can refusing to cater a gay wedding also be illegal?
Madness from Satan.
While our veterans are neglected and left to die.
Impeach the traitor!!
How batshit crazy do you have to be to change your vegetables at >65? Geezis.....
Our enemies are laughing while sharpening their swords.
Hey! It ain’t the Krazy Kenyan’s money! That bass turd doesn’t care what it’s wasted on.
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Not the country I want to die in, either.
Sounds like the patient is getting stationed somewhere else.
Orwell would be proud.
Can anyone explain to me why the world is bending over backwards for such a small percentage of people? The Houston city council just voted to make businesses allow transgendered people to use whatever bathroom they want to use. It actually allows the person to determine which sex IT is at the time. Protesters from all walks of society and the council simply ignored them. What is going on?
I predict before long Protestant churches will be ordered to have gay preachers and perform gay marriages. If they attempt to fight it they’re going to find there’s no one left to fight beside them. They’d better start getting involved now!
Health care will become what the VA is.
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