CSU transgender inclusive student health care plan to begin in August
By Alex Steinmetz
March 13, 2013http://www.collegian.com/2013/03/13/csu-transgender-inclusive-student-health-care-plan-to-begin-in-august/CSU will become the 37th college in the nation to add gender reassignment surgery to the student health insurance plan as of August 2013.
According to Anne Hudgens, director of the CSU Health Network, the addition of gender reassignment is called a plan enhancement, and it will have no additional monetary effect on the plan holders.
"Every year, we renegotiate the insurance plan and they are always interested in what we can do to meet the needs of the institution," Hudgens said. "As part of the renewal process we asked for (and) gave us $10,000 worth of coverage for gender reassignment surgery at no additional cost to any policy-holder."
This plan is a win-win situation for everyone because it includes the transgender students and it isn't any additional cost for the policy-holder, according to Hudgens.
She explained last year's insurance plan was attentive to gender inclusivity, but didn't include gender reassignment surgery.
"Hormone therapy is part of the overall pharmacy benefit now," Hudgens said.
Hudgens added that the decision to include the enhancement to the insurance plan was primarily for the well-being of the entire campus. For her personally, however, the decision to request the enhancement was a no-brainer.
"I deeply believe that health care coverage should work for all persons," Hudgens said. "It was an inquiry that was met with a positive response."
