Typically medical providers are supposed to take insurance if they know you have it. It's a part of the contract they have with the insurance companies that they are credentialed with to provider services. Many forward-thinking clinics/offices will get creative with their medical billing and use of CPT diagnosis codes used for insurance billing. For example, many transpeople could be seen as having hormone imbalances, right? It's why you need HRT, to set it right. That might be considered not 302.85 (TS-NOS) but Endocrine Disorder NOS. Sometimes by changing the medical code to be something that you technically HAVE while not coding you as having the disorder of transsexualism (their diagnosis code, not mine!) will result in an insurance company getting paid.
This isn't a medical doctor being prejudiced against trans people, this is them trying to run a profitable business, although they probably won't think outside of the box AT ALL when it comes to diagnosis codes. If you can find ONE decent doctor and suggest coding you for something else you have, they can get paid (a win for them AND you!) and you can get treated (a win for both of you, again).
I like the ideas that people suggested to you though...go to a university, LGBT place, etc. I know people that travel five hours to get HRT but it's because once you get the first few visits out of the way, you are only going like two or three times a year. From a monetary standpoint, it might not break the bank. Keep up the searching, stay diligent 🙂 Meghan
