A Queens transgender person – who says that for 34 years she’s been a woman trapped inside a man’s body – has won the battle to get a health insurance company to pay for her sex change operation.
Ida Hammer, 34, — who is already living as a woman — can finally make the full transformation to female after settling with MVP Health Care.
“My insurance company should not be second-guessing my doctors,” Hammer said, in a press release. “I’m relieved that it is finally treating me fairly and covering the health care I need.”
The settlement was announced today by the Transgender Legal Defense & Education.
The group said MVP agreed to pay for the procedure after they threatened to sue.
“The well-established medical and legal consensus is that transgender-related health care is medically necessary care,” said TLDEF executive director Michael Silverman. “This surgery is not designed to improve one’s appearance, but rather to treat a recognized medical condition.”
MVP declined to comment.
The American Medical Association recommends insurance coverage for sex reassignment. But only a small number of companies actually provide it.
With Post Wire Services