GenderLife Forum: The Information Exchange

They are doing these studies to find out what makes gays tick. And that will be used in studies exploring "trans" people. What I see is that a "cure" will eventually exist for GID.

Why? Because we may become expensive to insurance companies and Health Care plans, including those from the government.

Since we require surgery, and that surgery is expensive, and allowing for it can open a whole can of worms--yet denying it can create many legal issues, I can see why insurance companies and governments may be interested in a "cure" for GID.

It's not about the gays and lesbians. They are just being used. It's about us.

I agree that the underlying reason for the studies is searching for profits, but I see it coming from a different source. I don't think the big bucks are in cost savings to insurance companies, after all, they can just choose not to cover GID, or whatever acronym people prefer.

I think the profits would be derived from selling a "cure". After all, what parent wouldn't want to spare their child the suffering associated with being, homosexual, or transgendered, or both? A darker take on that same theme is how much would a bigot pay to have their child "cured" of these abominable conditions?

In either case, money would be no object for many people. They would pay whatever it cost.

Well,by the time they come up with a "cure"(IMO)we'll all be pushing up daisys.There's a lot more important things to "cure" than GID that the insurance companys are paying for at this time that are more important than us.

Marcella, my dear, you're allowing your pessimism to override your normally very logical brain. Those at the decision making level of healthcare insurance are doubtlessly aware of these following facts, as it is their business to be aware of them from a business perspective.

#1. Many of our services, especially psychotherapy and HRT, are already being covered under health plans by friendly providers who submit in their claims diagnoses like "Depression" and "Hormone Imbalance" to explain the medical justification of these charges.

#2. The biggest ticket item considered to be "essential" for a transsexual woman, SRS, is between $10,000 and $30,000 (depending on whether one goes to Thailand or visits a greedy, money-sucking whore like Dr. A). This is a procedure that is being done no more than a few hundred times a year (for US patients) and, even were it covered by health insurance, would like exceed no more than 1000 cases a year. Out of $2.7 trillion dollars spent on healthcare in the USA alone last year, this is even less than a drop in the bucket.

Genetic reasearch to "cure" TSism would be far better spent on curing gentically-caused diabetes, a disease that costs $11,744 per patient every year or $116 billion dollars last year. Believe me, we're among the last of their concerns.


From a pure business perspective, this is unlikely. Genetic research at this level is very expensive, and with only a relative few able to afford such a pricey "cure," and cultural tolerance for homosexuality growing more every year, there is insufficient profit potential to pursue such research. The ROI would suck, so only a fanatic would even consider funding it. And people with the kind of money required to finance this kind of research are fanatical about only two things: money and power.

It's too early. Remember what I'm writing here in a decade.

The situation is going to change, and more and more companies will be forced around the world to cover more and more conditions. A "slippery slope" scenario, that can cost a lot of money.

Providing a cure (and I agree with Hope's model, offering it to parents) will mean much greater savings than it means now. I hope I'm wrong, though. People tend to dislike what I say and brand me as pessimistic until it happens. And after, they hate me. It seems many feel Cassandra doesn't just tell what's coming, but causes it.

Well, here is one transwoman who will never hate you, chica. I like the way your mind works, even if you can be Eeyorish at times.

P.S. I think ten years from now we'll still have far more pressing problems. The sample of TS women is just too small vis a vis a much larger population whose medical problems are far more costly. Once they cure diabetes and the huge other host of genetically-caused diseases, they'll still have to deal with what many believe are the genetic predispositions to alcoholism and other addictions. We're far too unimportsnt in the grand scheme of things.

Of note,
Many insurance companies are being forced into mental health parity, where they provide for some number of visits per year, with the standard co-pay.

At say, 20 visits per year, each $100, that's 2k. Antidepressant medication can be quite expensive as well, maybe a few k a year.
Over a career, that can add up...to a much greater cost than, say, treatment of GID.

Covering all of us for GID is a drop in the bucket, compared to say treatment for erectile dysfunction. Something that's often covered, and is honestly a choice.

Covering GID is a drop in the bucket compared to pregnancy coverage, something that is a choice.