Therapist vs psychiatrist

[Stephe]

Because so many of the transgender people have NO idea where to look to get these services. Take Stephe for example. She was convinced that SRS coverage was universally not possible to be accepted in the US and their companies. I, in turn, showed a vast list of companies in the US that does have SRS and HRT in their policies.

You gave no reference for this "vast list" or this made up "30% of people I have seen say they have other issues for wanting to transition".

Vast? This list is maybe 0.001% of the companies in the US. And just because this is "In their policy" doesn't mean they won't try to find a way NOT to pay for it. I have been there with a life threatening illness I ended up paying out of pocket that should have been covered.  They let people die who are covered for cancer treatment etc daily using nonsense reasons. I highly doubt they are going to pay for this non life threatening surgery on a regular basis.

I also find it comical you are talking about how great it is for this to be called a mental disorder but are asking for your church to pay for this non life threatening procedure for YOU. How many homeless people etc are going to sleep out on the street or go hungry because you are asking these churches to pay this -elective- procedure for you? You should be ashamed of yourself. Save and work for this yourself. Don't ask you others to pay for this by asking for them to have pity on you.. Or is this why you are so pro DSM, you are working the "mental disorder" angle to get these church people to pay for YOUR needs? Pathetic....

[Annah]

You gave no reference for this "vast list" or this made up "30% of people I have seen say they have other issues for wanting to transition".

Vast? This list is maybe 0.001% of the companies in the US. And just because this is "In their policy" doesn't mean they won't try to find a way NOT to pay for it. I have been there with a life threatening illness I ended up paying out of pocket that should have been covered.  They let people die who are covered for cancer treatment etc daily using nonsense reasons. I highly doubt they are going to pay for this non life threatening surgery on a regular basis.

Stephe

You are simply set on being argumentative. Any response I give you will, in turn, find something depressing or wrong with it.

You said there are no companies in the US that provided SRS and that it is Universally not covered in the US. I stated you were in error in that regard and now you are wanting sources? And then you say it's 0.001%? 22% of Major US Corporate companies offer SRS.  Quite a contrast from 0.001% Many of the companies I listed ARE huge.

Here's my source: call up the companys' human resource dept and ask them yourself. Google the company. Do your own research. Ill point you in the right direction and provide you a free link:

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/2011/02/22/transgender-surgery-cover_n_826385.html
Also they will give srs...they wont have srs on their policy just to deny  trans people? Come now.

And my advice: stop complaining and attacking me and start being proactive.

I also find it comical you are talking about how great it is for this to be called a mental disorder but are asking for your church to pay for this non life threatening procedure for YOU. How many homeless people etc are going to sleep out on the street or go hungry because you are asking these churches to pay this -elective- procedure for you? You should be ashamed of yourself. Save and work for this yourself. Don't ask you others to pay for this by asking for them to have pity on you.. Or is this why you are so pro DSM, you are working the "mental disorder" angle to get these church people to pay for YOUR needs? Pathetic....

Again, this approach will not work on me.

As a pastor and a seminarian student we do a lot for the homeless people. On countless occasions we have opened our campus up for the homeless to find shelter during the cold nights. How many colleges can you say do the same?

Our church has food ministries, soup kitchens, financial assistance, and counseling for the homeless.

Our entire ministry does not focus on just the homeless. We minister to the sick, we minister to those who need surgeries, we minister to children, to teenagers, to adults, to senior citizens. We minister in Hospice. We minister to Straight men and women. We minister to gays and lesbians and transgender people.

We have outreaches and ministries that reaches out and touch everyone in our community. To focus on just one set of people will give a disservice to everyone else. Charity and hope comes in all shapes and sizes...not only just in shelter and soup.

Pretending that I am some horrible person ripping monies away from a starving family is a very taactless way of getting back at me. It didn't work. However, I am sure there is something else evil, malign, or incorrect that I said you can take the opportunity to jump on.

My advice to you is to just get over this thread (it was a week old since the last response). It is one thing to disagree with someone. It is an entirely different situation when you resort to childish and immature acts to attack the person you disagree with.

[Sarah Louise]

Lets try to keep personal insults out of this discussion.  Debate the topic, not each other.  We don't have to agree with each post, but we do have to be respectful to each other and the site.

[A]

22% companies? That is huge! I didn't know this! I guess I overestimated the US in terms of hell a bit.

(Though I think Stephe is right about this; Sicko said so too with quite a few examples: even in life-threatening diseases, those companies have an unpleasant tendency to refuse coverage as much as possible and have the patients fight for coverage even when they deserve it, invoking hardly logical motives. I think even people whose company covers SRS must have quite a hard time actually getting coverage, perhaps eventually requiring a lawsuit that would cost a fortune, much like the surgery would have in the first place...)

A bit off-topic:
Whoa, I am deeply surprised by the power the church has over in the US!

[Annah]

22% companies? That is huge! I didn't know this! I guess I overestimated the US in terms of hell a bit.

(Though I think Stephe is right about this; Sicko said so too with quite a few examples: even in life-threatening diseases, those companies have an unpleasant tendency to refuse coverage as much as possible and have the patients fight for coverage even when they deserve it, invoking hardly logical motives. I think even people whose company covers SRS must have quite a hard time actually getting coverage, perhaps eventually requiring a lawsuit that would cost a fortune, much like the surgery would have in the first place...)

A bit off-topic:
Whoa, I am deeply surprised by the power the church has over in the US!

A company has to go through a LOT of red tape, education, and awareness programs to allow Sexual Reassignment Surgery on their health care benefit plans.  All that work coupled with the fact that a very small minority of people will even be asking for SRS tells me I doubt the company will give you the run around for wanting to have it done. They are not going to go through all that work to deny the few trans (compared to all their other employees) they have.

Yes, the Church does have a lot of power in the U.S. Sadly, many fundamentalist churches (conservative) have power of much of the conservative political movement here. The conservative church is largely responsible for many of the anti same sex marriage rhetoric.

However, I am part of the progressive (liberal) church. We do all the charity that conservatives do but we don't judge or condemn people. Many progressive churches are working very closely with LGBT activist groups, social justice groups, etc etc as well as feeding the hungry and clothing the poor.

Unfortunately, many US citizens who do not go to church are not aware of the more progressive churches because the Conservative churches usually have a big voice (.ie., Pat Roberston, Jerry Falwell, etc). The good news is that the Progressive churches are getting stronger and they are fighting back against the social injustices the Conservative churches has done "in the name of God."

[A]

I may be thinking of too much bad things here, but I would tend to believe that they would definitely do such things to save money. I hope I am wrong, though...

About churches: Whoa, this is big. I am still shocked. But well, I guess this should be expected from a country that says "In God we trust".

[Annah]

I may be thinking of too much bad things here, but I would tend to believe that they would definitely do such things to save money. I hope I am wrong, though...

If the company had hundreds of people go out for SRS every year then I could see your point. But usually companies do not have a ton of trans people wanting srs. If they had twenty a year I would be surprised.

Also, the company does not pay for the SRS. The companies pay to have the SRS included in its medical package. For example, if someone has SRS, the insurance company will not flip them a bill. If 50 went out for srs, the insurance company will not flip the company the bills. The Companies pay a set amount before hand to have it covered.

When the insurance companies raise their rates it is because a lot of employees has had surgery or whatever. The ration between trans people having srs and employees having knee surgery, hernias, or anything else is very vast.

The Human Rights Campaign has a worksheet on their website to show companies that they really pay very little extra to have SRS included into their policies....this has been the driving force behind why more and more companies are adding it....it really doesn't cost a whole lot more to have it. Now, if the company had thousands of trans who want srs then it could be costly, but the ratio of trans wanting srs in a company is at a level where it wont make much of a difference in the policy costs.

(I used to be a Medical Disability Manager....I know quite a bit about how US insurance policies work).