Personal: My Insurer is Covering HRT

Somewhat shockingly, my insurer has decided to (or failed to decide not to, more accurately) cover my HRT as normal, despite the language of the plan brochure indicating that it would fall under a categorical exclusion.  This puts me in something of an awkward position, even while it is generally good news.  I thought of the perfect analogy last night; I was gearing up for the fight like someone bracing themselves to force a door open, and my insurer just decided to open it instead so I’ve just stumbled on through.  The analogy even works on another level, insofar as when (if?) they decide to try and come back at me for reimbursement they’ll have to try and shove me out (getting money back from the services I’ve already received) rather than me trying to force my way in (and paying for everything out of pocket in the meantime).

I’m gonna go ahead right now and recognize the overwhelming privilege of being able to have *mixed feelings* about my insurance covering things a lot of trans folk don’t have access too, but that was kind of the point – I feel like I was in a good position to help make a difference with that.  Anyhow, that puts Emily v. The Government on hold until something changes, it seems.  In the meantime, I’ve got email alerts set up on the regulatory docket for HHS-OCR-2013-0007, so I’ll know as soon as the Department of Health and Human Services takes action on the anti-discrimination clause in the Affordable Care Act, which should hopefully include a ban on trans-exclusive health insurance policies altogether.