Vermont Orders Insurers to Cover Gender Reassignment

It joins three other states and D.C. in having such a mandate.

Trudy Ring

Trudy Ring is The Advocate’s senior politics editor and copy chief. She has been a reporter and editor for daily newspapers and LGBTQ+ weeklies/monthlies, trade magazines, and reference books. She is a political junkie who thinks even the wonkiest details are fascinating, and she always loves to see political candidates who are groundbreaking in some way. She enjoys writing about other topics as well, including religion (she’s interested in what people believe and why), literature, theater, and film. Trudy is a proud “old movie weirdo” and loves the Hollywood films of the 1930s and ’40s above all others. Other interests include classic rock music (Bruce Springsteen rules!) and history. Oh, and she was a Jeopardy! contestant back in 1998 and won two games. Not up there with Amy Schneider, but Trudy still takes pride in this achievement.

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Trudy Ring

April 29 2013 9:29 PM EST

November 17 2015 5:28 AM EST

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Vermont regulators have issued a mandate that insurers operating within the state cover all medically necessary procedures for transgender people, including gender-reassignment surgery.

The Vermont Department of Financial Regulation's Division of Insurance laid out the policy in a bulletin saying, "DFR is committed to ensuring that Vermonters do not face discrimination in accessing medically necessary health care benefits, including those based on gender identity and gender dysphoria," the Rutland Herald reports. The document adds, "This is both a simple question of fairness and a matter addressed by existing insurance law and DFR regulation." The policy went into effect last week.

Three other states -- California, Colorado, and Oregon -- and the District of Columbia have similar policies, according to ThinkProgress. The Transgender Law Center and other advocacy groups praised Vermont's move.