Portland, Ore., Mayor Sam Adams has defended the transgender area employees, claiming that community insurance should cover sex change surgery. As stated by Adams, it is only right that area health insurance cover the treatment. The Portland Community Council is expected to vote on Adams’ proposal as early as June.
’Fair, common sense,’ he says
Mayor Adams told The Oregonian newspaper that the transgender medical 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 medical operation coverage out of Portland’s self-insurance fund. The denial occurred as the committee could not reach the consensus needed to recommend change to city policy.
It would cost about $32,000 a year for transgender surgery benefits in Portland according to Adams’ estimates. There would be about a .08 percent increase in the self-insurance plan spending budget for the city.
The ‘medically necessary’ things are covered
In 2008, the American Medical Association has identified transgender health care as “medically necessary.” Under the AMA resolution, withholding coverage for treatment of gender identity disorder when such procedure has been prescribed by a physician isn’t allowed.
“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.”
Kaiser or self-insurance
Portland gives two opportunities to employees for health insurance including a self-insurance plan called CityCore and insurance through Kaiser. CityCore would cover gender change medical operation if Adams gets what he wants making the city’s plan the same as 22 percent of Fortune 100 Companies’ plans and just like many other Oregon businesses.
It all started in San Francisco
Transgender medical operation benefits became covered in 2001 in San Francisco. This made it the first U.S. city to do so. Then-Mayor Willie Brown and the San Francisco Board of Supervisors approved a bill that extended coverage of the gender change operation for city employees, also as accompanying hormone treatments and related medical needs.
Male to female operation costs $37,000 and female to male cost $77,000 at that time. Fees were capped at $50,000 per person for life in the San Francisco ordinance while 15 percent if the surgeon is on the area health plan had to be paid.
Sam Adams at a rally for same-sex marriage
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2BMPgHIrjKA
Information from
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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