Oregon Medicaid coverage to include trans youth

LGBTQ Nation reports,”The Oregon state Health Plan and its Healthy Kids Program will soon begin covering medically-necessary care for young people experiencing gender dysphoria on Oct. 1, 2014, making Oregon the first state to ensure coverage of transgender kids under Medicaid.”

The new Oregon Health Plan will cover:

• Mental health counseling (applies to children, youth and adults)

• Evaluation by a pediatric specialist in advance of pubertal suppression treatment

• Procedures, medication and follow-up monitoring related to pubertal suppression

In a press release announcing the expansion, TransActive Executive Director Jenn Burleton hails the move as a huge step forward,”Pubertal suppression provides transgender adolescents the option of avoiding unwanted, irreversible and deeply distressing changes that come with birth-sex pubertal development”, Burleton said. “Far too often trans adolescents experience increased suicidal ideation as a result of these changes and the indifference of others about the impact these changes have on trans youth.”