New guidance issued Monday by the U.S. Departments of Labor, Treasury, and Health and Human Services could make a big difference for transgender people seeking access to preventive care. The new guidance states that insurers must provide “coverage for the recommended preventive service, without cost sharing, regardless of sex assigned at birth, gender identity, or gender of the individual otherwise recorded by the plan or issuer.” In effect, this means insurance must provide people with preventive care — such as mammograms and prostate exams — appropriate to their anatomy, regardless of what gender is listed in their health record or ID.
Transgender Law Center applauds this guidance, with Executive Director Kris Hayashi stating: “There are far too many barriers preventing transgender people in this country from accessing adequate, appropriate, and equitable health care. With this guidance, the federal government has chipped away at one of those barriers and ended insurance companies’ destructive practice of denying transgender people the preventive care we need.”
Read the full guidance below. If your insurance claims for preventive services have been denied, you can appeal the decision using the information provided by your insurance carrier and be sure to include a copy of the guidelines in your appeals paperwork.