Big news: The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services has ruled that Medicare can cover sex-reassignment surgery for transgender people.
The program has had a blanket ban on gender transition–related surgical procedures for more than 30 years. But in a ruling last week, HHS’s Departmental Appeals Board threw out the ban, saying it is unreasonable and contrary to current science and medical standards of care, think-progress reports. As Kellan Baker explains,
The lifting of the coverage exclusion means that transgender Medicare beneficiaries will now be able to seek individualized review of the medical necessity of the specific procedure they need, just like anyone seeking coverage for any other medical treatment.
Medicare provides health insurance coverage for 48 million seniors and people with disabilities. The ruling is the result of a challenge by groups including the ACLU, Gay & Lesbian Advocates & Defenders, and the National Center for Lesbian Rights. It follows similar decisions by five states and the District of Columbia, all of which have held that across-the-board exclusions for transition-related care by private health plans are discriminatory and unlawful, the Transgender Law Center notes.
WASHINGTON, DC—In a stunning display of bipartisanship that is all too rare in Washington these days, Congress unanimously passed a new health insurance plan today. This historic bill, entitled “Medicare-for-All-4-One,” guarantees free lifetime medical care for the 1990s super-boy-band that introduced the world to such powerhouse hits as “I Swear” and “I Can Love You […]
WASHINGTON, DC—In a stunning display of bipartisanship that is all too rare in Washington these days, Congress unanimously passed a new health insurance plan today. This historic bill, entitled “Medicare-for-All-4-One,” guarantees free lifetime medical care for the 1990s super-boy-band that introduced the world to such powerhouse hits as “I Swear” and “I Can Love You […]
If any of my posts blow up please let it be this one:
Australia is currently petitioning to make it that all gender confirming surgeries for transgender individuals are covered by Medicare. This is absolutely huge as surgeries are super expensive even with private health insurance.
It doesn’t ask for an address or phone number or anything so I think anyone in the world can sign for it? But I’m not entirely sure.
EDIT: yeah you gotta be a citizen, so if you’re outside the country, if you could reblog this to reach more Australians, this would be amazing!
An American appetite for tax hikes gives President Barack Obama leverage in fiscal cliffnegotiations.
A new POLITICO/George Washington University Battleground Poll finds that 60 percent of respondents support raising taxes on households that earn more than $250,000 a year and 64 percent want to raise taxes on large corporations.
Even 39 percent of Republicans support raising taxes on households making more than $250,000. Independents favor such a move by 21 percentage points, 59 to 38 percent.
Only 38 percent buy the GOP argument that raising taxes on households earning over $250,000 per year will have a negative impact on the economy. Fifty-eight percent do not.
“Democrats really have a winning issue here, and we should drive it hard,” said Celinda Lake, the Democratic pollster who helped conduct the bipartisan poll. “We’re in an era now where there’s a lot of cynicism about trickle-down economics.”
So Republican ideas are unpopular — no surprise there. This is pretty much just a continuation of the trend in polling. Obama won reelection, so it’s no surprise most people back his ideas here. The alternate Republican ideas were also Mitt Romney’s ideas.
But that last question is so odd you wonder why they asked it. 75% support “cutting government spending across the board,” which is pretty much the same as going over the fiscal cliff. I suppose it’s so vague that it’s appealing; when you start to get into specifics, spending cuts get a lot more unpopular.
First, raising the Medicare age is terrible policy. It would be terrible policy even if the Affordable Care Act were going to be there in full force for 65 and 66 year olds, because it would cost the public $2 for every dollar in federal funds saved. And in case you haven’t noticed, Republican governors are still fighting the ACA tooth and nail; if they block the Medicaid expansion, as some will, lower-income seniors will just be pitched into the abyss.
Second, why on earth would Obama be selling Medicare away to raise top tax rates when he gets a big rate rise on January 1 just by doing nothing? And no, vague promises about closing loopholes won’t do it: a rate rise is the real deal, no questions, and should not be traded away for who knows what.
So this looks crazy to me; it looks like a deal that makes no sense either substantively or in terms of the actual bargaining strength of the parties. And if it does happen, the disillusionment on the Democratic side would be huge. All that effort to reelect Obama, and the first thing he does is give away two years of Medicare? How’s that going to play in future attempts to get out the vote?
If anyone in the White House is seriously thinking along these lines, please stop it right now. ~Paul Krugman
“We have to pull it. Nothing else is covered.” The dentist would say, looking at me like I should be glad to get even that bit of charity. Tears would fill my eyes as yet another tooth that could have been saved was yanked from my head.
When I was younger, we were riding in my grandfather’s truck when my grandmother tickled me and I broke my front tooth on the dash, leaving the root exposed. The next day, we went to the dentist, who performed a root canal and placed a temporary cap on top. A year ago, I learned that my mother didn’t have dental coverage at the time and that the dentist had provided this service (and many others in my childhood) for free. I can smile confidently because someone went out of their way for me. Although no one should be shamed for the state of their oral health, everyone should have the right to a confident smile regardless of their ability to pay.
Come on girl, accept the opportunity call and dump social security! XO - Paul Ryan
We chose Obama because we didn’t want this guy in charge of our earned benefits programs. Now the President is taking a page out of his playbook. WTF?!
First of all, Social Security isn’t the problem with the deficit. Second of all, there is a way to fix it that has nothing to do with starving old people now or in the immediate future.
You have people pay more. And then your system is solved. If you wanted to approach it toward just solvency, that would be one of the things that’s on the table. For the Democrats to not put that on the table and say it’s all about solvency and not the politics, I just don’t buy it.
