The Trumpenfuhrer’s pronouncement that he would like to get transgender-related medical costs off the military’s books has apparently changed the opinions of journalists:
- CNN, July 31, 2015, “The high cost of being transgender”: “the Philadelphia Center for Transgender Surgery posts cost estimates for different procedures. Its price list mentions estimates of $140,450 to transition from male to female, and $124,400 to transition from female to male.”
- CNN, July 26, 2017: the cost to provide transgender-related services to active military personnel would amount to 0.004-0.017% of the Defense Department’s total health care spending
(I’m not sure that the accounting in the second article is correct, incidentally. The “total health care spending” may include retirees and not simply “active military personnel.” (Forbes provides a breakdown of the $52 billion total that was spent back in 2012; note that this number is in the same ballpark as the entire military budget of Russia.) Also, the military historically has rejected recruits based on the possibility of being on the hook for long-term medical costs. “Long-Term Follow-Up of Transsexual Persons Undergoing Sex Reassignment Surgery: Cohort Study in Sweden” says that ” Sex-reassigned persons also had an increased risk for … psychiatric inpatient care.” A Guardian article from 2004, “Sex changes are not effective, say researchers,” suggests that long-term psychiatry costs could be significant.)
[Since I’m not in the military and haven’t had gender-related surgery I don’t have a personal opinion on the merits of Trump’s proposed policy. I just think it is interesting that a statement by Trump has the power to effect such a dramatic change in point of view.]
Fun fact: in 2012, The Donald intervened in the Miss Universe contest to let a transgender person compete. Jenna Talackova was initially rejected by pageant officials because of her transgender status, but the organization (owned by Trump) reversed its decision saying she met the “legal gender recognition” standards of Canada. Trump himself issued a statement wishing Talackova “the best of luck in her quest for the crown.”
dunno how reliable Katie Couric is with her data, but she claims to her minions on Yahoo! that the military spends 5 times more on Viagra than on trans-gender surgery/treatment (liberal justification for never reining in any costs). Trump is simply being a pragmatist on this one IMAO. An RN friend in West Va posted on FB weeks ago that she can’t believe insurance cos are paying for transgender surgeries when the hospital for whom she works as a nursing supervisor struggles to get reimbursement for surgeries for life-threatening conditions.
Like every other Trump order, it’ll be overturned by the courts but kept you entertained. For all the money raised by the wounded warrior project, the scandals over neglected veterans, it’s surprising no-one ever complained about money being diverted from amputees to sex change operations.
“overturned by the courts” sounds about right. And then the liberals criticize Trump for accomplishing less than his hoped-for agenda.
How much “Wounded Warriors” money actually flowed to veterans, as they were known for lavish parties with celebrities (one Paula Broadwell was involved with that cause which might be an indication)????
The first CNN article characterizes the cost to the individual as “high”. The second one doesn’t offer any judgment regarding the expensiveness of the care. So there’s no contradiction.
One question that I haven’t seen raised (though I haven’t looked much) is whether civilian federal employees can get the relevant surgery paid for by their government-provided health insurance. The amount of spending would probably be much greater than that spent on service members.
Vince: Of course, you’re right, but I do love these two articles juxtaposed. They illustrate what has become a common way of thinking in the U.S.: Item X is too expensive for the average individual so we will have insurance companies and/or the government buy Item X and then it will be affordable for our society overall.
At some point in the past Americans came to the conclusion that healthcare and health insurance are the same thing.
So if a hospital charges $45 for aspirin, but your insurance “pays,” $42.50 of the bill, then it’s a great deal.
The key is costs. And insurance, public and private, increase costs.
What if I identify as a male with an extra-large penis? Should someone else pay for my enlargement?
The irony here is this: transgender folks in the military are taken care of better then “normal” war veterans.
George is probably correct. Friend in Delaware whose husband was in the Marines for 20 yrs (served in Guantanomo as well as Kuwait during the Gulf War) is having trouble getting military to pay for her cancer treatment (she unfortunately was diagnosed with colon cancer at age 49). She signed up for a clinical trial at UPenn (which wasn’t successful), but is now thinking of paying out-of-pocket for Cancer Treatment Centers of America (military declined to pay).
Husband is in HR for Walmart regional office, but they are not at all wealthy by East Coast standards. Meantime, military advised her to go on disability in order to be eligible for Medicare (she isn’t even close to age 65 yet). I don’t think it’s reasonable for transgender folks to get a $150,000 operation when vets and their dependents fight to get coverage for cancer.