Gay, Lesbian, Bisexual and Transgender Student Services at Ohio State has successfully made campus an easier place for transgender students to navigate by lobbying for changes in some university policies.
To accomplish this, the university has changed its nondiscrimination policy to include protection for gender identity and expression. In addition, any new or renovated campus buildings will have gender-neutral bathrooms and institutional forms will give students an option to identify beyond the traditional male-female categories.
The university is currently considering a change in the student health-insurance program that would expand medical benefits in order to cover hormone therapies and lab testing for transsexual students. The transition period for transsexuals requires supervision by a medical professional that is not covered by student health insurance at this time.
With the guidance of a qualified medical professional, a transsexual person can begin the medical portion of gender reassignment. This requires a prescribed hormone regiment and psychological therapy to aid in the transition process.
Depending on whether the transition is from male-to-female or female-to-male, the types and doses of hormones vary drastically. Psychological therapy prepares the individual for the physical transition as well as addressing past trauma, which might have occurred prior to transitioning. This regiment must be monitored closely and blood tests must be done regularly in order to insure the safety of the patient.
As with other medical commitments, this is an expensive undertaking.
Brett Genny Beemyn of the GLBT Student Services said insurance coverage for students who undergo this process is crucial in order to monitor their health during the treatment. If students are unable to get coverage through the university insurance plan, they might go to less reputable sources to procure the hormones, such as Internet companies that sell unregulated hormones or hormone-like substances.
“Students who feel that this is something they need will get it through other means and there are risks,” Beemyn said. “There is no doctor monitoring it and hormones are powerful substances.”
Larry Mrozek, a doctoral student in education and a member of the university health-insurance committee, said he feels this coverage is a way for the university to be more inclusive of its population.The university’s health plan already covers reconstructive surgeries, birth control and pregnancy, he said.
“Health insurance is there for everyone; it’s there to help and protect you as you are going through school,” Mrozek said. “This is a congenital disorder, not genetic, but it is linked to exposure to hormones in the womb. It’s not a choice,” he said.
OSU provides training for health care staff and counselors on transgender issues. Beemyn conducted work on policy changes at the university and found that after some basic education on the issues, university officials were accommodating and accepting. The next step, Beemyn said, is covering the hormone treatments for these students.
“We say as an institution we don’t discriminate, but by not covering what is basic health care, that is discriminatory,” Beemyn said.
Mrozek said the committee has not calculated OSU’s cost for including this type of extended coverage. The committee has looked at benefit programs currently in place at Lucent Technologies and the city of San Francisco to get an idea of the costs.
Mrozek said the city of San Francisco has a health-care program for transsexual employees. Their projected cost totaled to $187,000 per year. The actual cost, however, was $11,000 per year in 2004. This program includes coverage for sex reassignment surgery, but OSU is not considering coverage for surgical procedures.
The University of Michigan’s insurance plan covers the non-surgical needs of transsexual students, with a more extensive insurance plan available only to graduate students. The graduate plan covers surgical procedures while the more widely available plan only covers hormones and psychological therapy.
Andre Wilson, a graduate student at the University of Michigan, said the graduate student plan was negotiated by the university graduate employee’s organization, a union for graduate instructors as part of 2005 contract negotiations.
“You wouldn’t be talking to me today if I didn’t get these services,” Wilson said. “It’s about saving lives and quality of life.”
Dr. Ted Grace, chair of the student health insurance committee, said covering surgery raises questions of feasibility.
“Covering surgery was not proposed to the committee,” Grace said. “Obviously that would be a much different expense. It would be much more expensive.”
The committee will present its data and findings in March. Once the committee votes on the issue it will be sent to the Council of Student Affairs for review and then to the Board of Trustees.
“It’s hard because we are having to deal with society’s attitudes and it’s mostly uninformed,” Mrozek said. “I don’t want to see students leaving the university because of lack of health care.”
