Blue Cross to cover gender correction surgery?

Blue Cross Blue Shield of Texas wants to cover gender correction surgery for transgender people in plans sold on HealthCare.gov, according to a report published Thursday, July 28, by The Dallas Morning News. BCBS, the largest insurer in Texas, also called for an increase of almost 60 percent in premiums for individual plans for next year.
No on at BCBS is commenting on whether adding coverage for gender correction surgery is the reason they are asking for a rate increase, but the Morning News article by business columnist Michael Schnurman indicates that’s probably not the case, citing studies that show extending coverage to transgender people: “While surgery is expensive, up to $89,000, few people get it. And those ‘in transition’ often receive hormone treatments or other less expensive therapies.”
Of course, all the facts and studies and so forth probably won’t make a damn bit of difference to the right-wingers in the Texas Legislature who have drawn a target on the back of transgender Texans with a slew of anti-trans bills in the last legislative session and a slew more expected next year, Schnurman said. (OK, so I paraphrased a little. But that’s what he meant.)
Read Schnurman’s full analysis here.