Very Important news for our Transgender Vetarans - VA Surgeries

[Northern Star Girl]

VERY IMPORTANT NEWS FOR OUR TRANSGENDER MILITARY VETERANS - VA Surgeries

Our member @Jessica_Rose just today posted a NEWS STORY that will definitely be informative
for our Veteran members here on the Forum.  Click LINK below to find your way to the
mentioned News Posting:

            Trans military group sues Veterans Affairs to pay for gender-affirming surgeries
  Click LINK --->     https://www.susans.org/index.php/topic,247874.0.html

Danielle  [Northern Star Girl]
The Forum Administrator
                      US AirForce Veteran... served right after college.
                                    1st Lt   First Lieutenant
                      Much of that time at Lackland Air Force Base in San Antonio, Texas
                      staff at the Air Education and Training Command

[Robbyv213]

Sounds like this is a step in the right direction... But I can't Imagine the hoops we would have to jump through to get the va to approve surgery yet alone hrt. If they would accept letters from non VA therapists, or if you have to go to a VA therapist and play their game for them to be told to deny and disprove as many people as they can.

Plus I'm not sure I'd want the quality of the doctors that work for most VA hospitals operating on me yet alone my genitals...

[LoriDee]

Robby,

I think you might have some misconceptions about the VA.

All of my healthcare is through the VA, including all of my transitioning. Mental Health Eval, HRT, voice training, and hair removal are all covered, but I have no one in the area who does electrolysis. My mental health eval was in 2019 and I started HRT in Jan 2020. All through the VA.

The VA covers all pre-op care, including hair removal, pre-op physical exams, surgeon letters, etc. They also cover all post-op aftercare. The only thing they will not do is the actual surgery. But everything the surgeon requires before and after surgery is covered. If there is a problem post-op and a revision is needed to correct the problem, revision surgery is covered.

The lawsuit mentioned above was filed by TAVA (Transgender American Veterans Association) to force the VA to change its regulations concerning Gender Affirming Surgery. The Secretary of the VA has been promising that he would since 2016.

The lawsuit was filed in Jan 2024. In March 2024, the VA Secretary denied the petition saying he is "not ready to change the regulations at this time". TAVA then filed a second lawsuit against the VA charging them with discrimination against transgender veterans. That lawsuit is still pending.