WASHINGTON (AP) - Insurance companies in the District of Columbia have been ordered to stop denying coverage to transgender residents seeking gender-reassignment surgery.
Mayor Vincent Gray says the new rules will end health-care discrimination against the transgender population. The district joins five states that guarantee such coverage.
A bulletin issued Thursday by the city’s Department of Insurance, Securities and Banking says that gender dysphoria is a recognized medical condition. It says the various forms of treatment for that condition, including sex-change procedures, are covered benefits.
Gray says people with gender dysphoria, also known as gender identity disorder, “should not have to pay exorbitant out-of-pocket expenses for medically necessary treatment.” The mayor is a Democrat who is seeking re-election.
The city already has laws banning discrimination against transgender people.
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