GenderLife Forum: The Information Exchange

From TransYouth Family Allies

http://imatyfa.org/2008/07/18/wpath-takes-strong-stand/


WPATH June Statement on the Medical Necessity of Treatment/Coverage

WPATH released a strong statement in June, clarifying their position on the necessity of available treatment, sex reassignment and insurance coverage in the USA.

The PDF of the statement is here

Coming on the heels of the strong AMA statement that came out recently, this is very good stuff.

Thank You WPATH & AMA this should go along way in getting my Medicare & Medicaid to pay for my SRS. For our member here who does not believe in the medical necessity of these treatments read this very well.

Thanks for posting this, Diana Lynn. I'm known Jamison since 1990, and he's always been one our community's strongest and most effective activists. I'm not surprised to see him where he is right now.

This is nice, but it really isn't much of a surprise. After all it's already in the SOC. I actually prefer the wording of the SOC:



Pretty darn clear to anybody who bothers to read it. And that was written in 2001!

Yep, pretty darned clear that since the WPATH statement mentions GID as a recognised condition but does not criticise GID then the clear innuendo is that Jamison and WPATH endorse the idea that GID is legitimate psychopathology (mental illness).

Note I wrote "endorse" (not "believe") because I'm reasonably sure that Jamison does not believe transsexualism is mental illness.

But nonetheless WPATH issues a statement that reinforces the mental illness model and helps the pathologizers who choose to hurt us by holding somatic treatment hostage to compliance with mental treatment. This WPATH statement has done enormous damage to transsexual people by legitimizing bad psychiatry. It particular it will be quoted approvingly by Zucker to justify his hate-medicine.

We are not mental, it is just plain wicked of WPATH to suggest otherwise.

I personally am torn about the whole GID DSM diagnosis issue.

On the one hand, it is somewhat stigmatizing, categorizing me as having a mental illness. I suppose, though, that it doesn't have to be all that bad, as someone diagnosed with depression or anxiety goes through a similar diagnosis regimen. Do I really need to feel superior to someone with those conditions? Perhaps part of the problem is that we are participating in the marginalizing of people with mental illnesses, by labeling them as 'damaged', and in a way that is much worse than physical damage. Perhaps a better approach is to de-stigmatize mental illness?

On the other hand, some sort of diagnosis is required to receive medical treatment, particularly if you want to be covered by a health plan. This is where TS issues diverge from gay/lesbian issues. No diagnosis of homosexuality is required, but no medical treament is required. But it is required (oft times) for us TSers. So how else do we get a diagnosis except via psychiatric examination? You can't just diagnose yourself with depression and get anti-depressants, and the reality is that the checks on availability of medical care (unless self-paying) here in the U.S. require a diagnosis by a 'qualified individual'.

People that want to get the stomach lap-band to help with weight loss also need to go to therapy and get approval. And a diagnosis code is there to provide billing. There isn't a physical medicine test to test for TSism, it has to be verified another way. So what is the other option?

It may or may not be only somewhat stigmatizing.

But it is unquestionably dishonest to use that diagnosis when the person is not mentally ill. It is especially dishonest if the purpose of the diagnosis is to qualify to monetary insurance coverage. Criminal fraud against the insurance company actually (not mere civil fraud, the perpetrators should do prison time).

If estrogen is needed there is a fine diagnosis available - Hormone imbalance. If a vagina is needed there is a fine diagnosis available - vaginal agenesis.
The other option is to assign a person the assigned sex that serves their best interest. What a novel idea - that medicine should be practiced in the best interest of the patient rather than the best interest of the the physician and insurance company?! Then give estrogen to women (not mentally ill men with GID). Give vagina surgery to women who have no vagina, not mentally ill men.

We don't have a dog in that fight. It is unfair to dump it on a stigmatized group merely for reason that they are the group least able to carry that burden.

Oh I totally agree. I only bolded the first line because that's the way it appears in the text of the SOC. This is what I should have bolded:



That's the part I'd like to shove down the throats of fundies.

Everyone in the world is nuts or has some kind of psychiatric problem. No one admits it thinking they're the only sane ones. Well those are the real insane ones.

And yes you can get anti-depressants without a diagnosis. Just walk into your PCP's office and say "I'm feeling depressed."
"Here try these and see if they work. Call the office for a prescription if they do." Simple.

But go in and say "I need female hormones to feel better." Whoops. That's about P & V, and we know P & V rule the entire reality of the world.