Susan's Place Transgender Resources

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

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...

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.

LoriDee I'm glad you have had good experiences with the VA. I will have to look into the VA for possible care in the future. I do have a service connected rating of 100% PNT. however most of my experiences with the VA have not been all that great. However compared to some vets I guess my experience is no where near the horror stories of some.

I will def have to look into the VA for gender affirming care once I get set up here in Phoenix area. Do you have insurance through the VA like tri care? And if so is it covered or are you paying for it like reg insurance that one would have through their employer.

The VA does it all themselves in-house. If a service is not available, then they send you to a Care-in-the-Community provider and that provider is paid via insurance. In the Midwest is Optum, out West there is Tri-Care. That happens behind the scenes. You don't have to do anything. My disability rating is only 10% service-connected, but all my medical care is covered. Yours would be too. The exception is medicines. I do pay a co-pay for meds, but top-shelf name-brand meds only cost me $33 for a 90-day supply. With the higher rating, your meds might be with no copay. You would have to ask. I don't know how that works.

All of the complaints that I have heard about the VA were from people who were in large cities. Here in Rapid City, SD (pop. 75,000) I have no complaints. Everyone here is top-notch professional and very helpful with my transition. I don't know if it will make a difference, but you could try going to a smaller town's VA clinic instead of Phoenix. Like Chandler, or someplace smaller. Since I am limited here and do not have many to choose from, I can't say it would make a difference.

I would definitely check into it. Get registered as a patient, if you are not already. Make an appointment to see a Primary Care Physician. Talk to them about what you want to do. They can send a consult to Mental Health for evaluation of Gender Dysphoria. Once that is done, your Primary can then either prescribe HRT or refer you to Endocrinology or Gynecology. They will write the prescriptions and monitor hormone levels. Your Primary can also do the consults for Facial Hair Removal or Voice Training if you are interested in those. They will know what services are available there.

Every VA Clinic is supposed to have an LGBTQ+ Care Coordinator on staff. Check the Phoenix VA website and it will tell you who that person is and their contact information. They can also help you navigate the care that is available.

This is a lot of information I'm throwing out, but I hope it helps you and any other vets who are just getting started through the VA.


Hugs!

Lori Dee

Thank you so much. That is a lot of information, but it is very helpful. I appreciate it very much. I'm sure it's not hard to get lost in the system.