A rising number of health insurers are offering coverage for transgender surgeries, increasing access for many who previously could not afford the treatment, The Wall Street Journal reports.
Many transgender patients used to have to see plastic surgeons for transgender-related surgery. With the procedures not usually covered by payers, patients could face upward of $20,000 for one surgery, according to the report.
CMS, which allowed coverage for transgender surgeries in 2014, now has Medicaid programs in 12 states and the District of Columbia that cover transgender surgeries. In addition, many commercial insurers have begun covering the surgeries.
Healthcare providers like Cleveland Clinic, Boston Medical Center, Oregon Health & Science University in Portland and New York City-based Mount Sinai Hospital have started offering transgender surgeries. Boston Medical Center, which began performing vaginoplasty — a procedure to create a vagina — earlier in September, has 200 people on its waiting list.
In addition, Chicago-based Weiss Memorial Hospital will offer one of the first fellowships in transgender surgeries this fall.
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