Vanderbilt University to pay for student transgender surgerieshttp://www.washingtontimes.com/news/2016/jun/10/vanderbilt-university-to-pay-for-student-transgend/The Washington Times/By Jessica Chasmar - The Washington Times - Friday, June 10, 2016
By Jessica Chasmar - The Washington Times - Friday, June 10, 2016
"Vanderbilt University's student insurance plan will cover transgender-related surgeries starting this year, a move school officials hailed as creating a more inclusive environment for transitioning students.
Vanderbilt Vice Provost for Learning and Residential Affairs Cynthia Cyrus told The Tennessean that the change was made after a routine annual review of the university's student health care plan.
"It was relatively noncontroversial on our side," Ms. Cyrus said. "It was maybe a two-paragraph conversation, not deeply debated in any way."
Vanderbilt's plan already covered hormone therapy for transgender students for several years.
Dr. Louise Hanson, the director of the university's student health center, said she brought the proposed change to the committee based on feedback from student patients.
"It came out of feeling limited in our ability to take full and complete care of our transgender students," she told The Tennessean. "It really came out of our frustration.""
