Quote from: Julie Marie on September 01, 2010, 10:24:38 AM
Tammy, that's the direction this is going. But we need to consider that, at this time, most insurances don't cover HRT or GRS. Mine doesn't because they claim this is a mental disorder and they will gladly pay half of whatever therapy I have and 90% of any hospitalization that results from my mental problem until the day I die. But they will not cover anything related to what they call "Sex transferral".
The AMA has urged insurance companies to cover GRS and HRT because it categorizes the TS condition as medical. Many in the mental health community are also on board with this. It will happen but many of us here might be long gone unless we actively engage in pushing this forward.
This is my hope too, that it will be seen as a physical condition as opposed to a mental one. I see and understand WHY they consider it a mental disorder and with the crazy definitions we have of mental disorders, it is to vaguely defined imo.
I think there is a lot more political standing in it being seen as medical/physical in nature because it gives us more opportunity to push for health care coverage and in some cases political rights too. The American people tend to be more friendly towards those of us they see as "disabled" due to physical medical issues when it comes to protecting us from hate and discrimination (certainly in social situations this is not the case).
I do agree with them considering those who have undergone a SRS and HRT cured though. This is purely based on my experience with being bipolar. There is a different between my being bipolar and my being transsexual. Having SRS and undergoing HRT will relieve the negative symptoms of transsexualism like depression and dysphoria in my opinion, with those things gone I no longer feel "ill" in any way. It no longer is something that prevents me from living my life happily. However I will always have to take medication for being bipolar. Without medication I cannot function in a normal way and would honestly be a good candidate to be classified as disabled legally. I know we have to do HRT for our entire lives but I don't see that as being the same, I think I see the two differently though because I feel one is a physical illness and the other is a mental illness.
It's different needing insulin than it is needing medication for a mental illness. One is like a physical upkeep or follow up designed to prevent our body from crashing or functioning improperly while the other is designed to create normal mental function, I would not have a physical body reaction to not being medicated for bipolar disorder, I would only have a mental one and while I do see the chemicals in my brain as being a physical function these particular ones don't create a body disorder or illness.
I don't even know if that made sense... I kind of got lost in what I was trying to say there. As my english teacher once told me, "The point of the paragraph was lost in the sentences." I have a special talent for talking in circles and then forgetting my actual point, it usually leads to vain attempts at making my point after having forgotten what it even was.