If you are a Portland, Ore., community employee and are considering sex change operation, Mayor Sam Adams is in your corner, reports Portland Online. Adams has proposed regulation that would persuade community health insurance to cover the high price of the treatment for transgender employees. The Portland City Council is expected to vote on Adams’ proposition as early as June.
Adams states ‘Fair, common sense’
Mayor Adams told The Oregonian newspaper that the transgender operation bill amounts to “fair, common sense.” If the legislation makes its way into law, it would override the previous year’s area committee decision to veto gender change surgery coverage out of Portland’s self-insurance fund. The denial ended up happening. This was as the community didn’t decide entirely to change area policy like this.
According to Adams’ estimates, transgender surgery benefits for Portland city employees would cost around $32,000 per year. The estimated increase to the city’s self-insurance plan spending budget would be approximately .08 percent.
The ‘medically necessary’ things are covered
The American Medical Association made a decision in 2008. It decided that transgender health care is “medically important.” It is not allowed to withhold coverage for a treatment of gender identity disorder if a doctor prescribes it, with the AMA resolution.
“As Mayor, it is important to me that we attract and retain the best and brightest employees to the City of Portland,” writes Adams in a press statement. “Covering basic, medically-necessary care is a matter of fairness, and it’s the right thing to do.”
Choosing an insurance
Currently, the City of Portland provides two health insurance choices to its employees: insurance through Kaiser or a self-insurance plan called CityCore. Adams’ suggestion would make Portland much more like the companies in Oregon surrounding it and like 22 percent of Fortune 100 Companies. This is because CityCore would cover gender change surgery.
It all started in San Francisco
In 2001, San Francisco became the first United States city to offer transgender operation benefits. Sex change operations and hormone treatments were available to community employees after a bill was passed by the San Francisco Board of Supervisors and then-Mayor Willie Brown.
At that time, male-to-female operation cost $37,000, while the reverse cost $77,000. City employees had to pay 15 percent if the surgeon was on the area health plan with the San Francisco ordinance. The fees capped at $50,000 per person for life though.
Watch the video of the same-sex marriage rally with Portland Mayor Sam Adams
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BMPgHIrjKA
Articles cited
Basic Rights Oregon
basicrights.org/
OregonLive.com
blog.oregonlive.com/portlandcityhall/2011/05/mayor_sam_adams_to_push_sex-ch.html
Portland Online
portlandonline.com/mayor/?a=350579&c=49278
SF Gate
sfgate.com/cgi-bin/article.cgi?f=/c/a/2001/02/16/MN202072.DTL
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