Insurance.

An article in the Advocate writes about how more companies are now covering not only healthcare for trans-employees, but also surgery.

At Google, a Transgender "Gold Standard"

The search engine giant has significantly increased its coverage of transgender health care for its U.S. employees — and other companies are soon expected to follow suit.
November 22, 2011

In a move predicted by one advocate to become the gold standard for LGBT health, Google has significantly increased coverage of transgender health care for its U.S. employees, and other companies are expected to follow suit.

The updated benefits, announced internally by company officials on Friday and effective immediately, cover transitioning procedures and treatment in accordance with the World Professional Association for Transgender Health’s (WPATH) Standards of Care, and include gender reassignment surgical procedures determined to be medically necessary by a doctor.
[…]
“As the WPATH Standards of Care are considered the highest standards of care for transgender individuals, we agreed to cover the full range of procedures under WPATH,” Google spokesman Jordan Newman told The Advocate.

Google also has more than doubled the maximum dollar amount for transgender health care benefits, from $35,000 to $75,000, the minimum amount required for a 100% rating on the Human Rights Campaign’s 2012 Corporate Equality Index, which is expected to be released in the coming weeks. The benefits are covered by the company’s existing insurance providers and apply to domestic employees, Newman said. Google is considering extending similar benefits to international employees, though it does not currently have a timeline for doing so.

While I am not a fan of the HRC, I do think that their CEI is headed in the right direction. In the past a company could get a 100% rating by just having basic insurance coverage and by offer mental healthcare for trans-employees.  Which has resulted in more companies proving coverage for us. Now 85 companies offer coverage for surgery; however, from reading the guideline for the rating systems it still looks like a company can get a 100% without offering surgery. If they offer surgery coverage they get a checkmark.

I think another motivator for companies offering surgery insurance was the IRS court ruling that medical care for trans-people is tax deductible and therefore companies would be more willing to cover surgery for their transgender employees.

Speaking of court rulings and surgery coverage, I think that the court ruling to provide surgery for the killer who is serving a life sentence was correct. Medical care should be based on medical necessity not on how popular it is with the public. The judge wrote: “Denying adequate medical care because of a fear of controversy or criticism from politicians, the press, and the public serves no legitimate penological purpose,...” He went on to say that “It is precisely the type of conduct the Eight Amendment prohibits.”

I think in all fairness, I should say that Google is a sponsor of the Trans Health and Law conference this year. Also my former employer does not cover any surgery for trans-employees or retired trans-employees.