Manchester aldermanic panel: City should pay for transgender health care : unionleader

as declared in unionleader

Manchester aldermanic panel: City should pay for transgender health care

Manchester aldermanic panel: City should pay for transgender health care

MANCHESTER — Members of an aldermanic committee voted Tuesday to recommend that transgender health care services — such as sex change surgery — be covered by city health insurance.Human Resources Director Jane Gile went before the Aldermanic Committee on Human Resources and Insurance Tuesday recommending the city ask health insurance provider Anthem to "remove all transgender exclusions or limitations of coverage for all health services related to gender transition from the templates of the city's medical benefit plan" — thereby allowing Manchester to offer the health benefits to municipal employees as soon as next summer.Committee members voted 3-2 to recommend to the full board the exclusions be removed.Voting in favor were Aldermen Pat Long, Ron Ludwig and Tom Katsiantonis, with William Shea and Keith Hirschmann opposed."I don't think the taxpayers should be paying for this," said Hirschmann.Gile told city aldermen that Anthem will remove the exclusion for gender identity disorders and sex change surgery from its coverage offerings — both fully and self-insured plans — in accordance with ACA Section 1557, nondiscriminatory provisions of the Affordable Care Act.Section 1557 prohibits most insurers from discriminating on the basis of sex — including gender identity — when providing health coverage.Discrimination on the basis of gender identity includes:• Blanket exclusions on any transition-related health care services;• The denial or limitation of coverage for services used for gender transition when those services would normally be covered when treating a non-transition related health condition;• The refusal to cover treatment that is typically associated with one particular gender, because an individual identifies with another gender or is listed as having another gender in their medical records or on a personal form of identification.Self-insured plans like the one offered by Manchester can opt out of this provision, but Gile feels other federal rules may apply."I think there are other federal laws that might kick in if we choose to keep these exclusions in our plan," said Gile.The Age Discrimination Act of 1975 prohibits "covered entities from discriminating on the basis of race, color, national origin, sex or disability" when providing or administering health-related insurance or coverage.


furthermore njbiz

Cost of health care continues to hit small businesses hard

Cost of health care continues to hit small businesses hard

Employers continue to search for a way to control health care costs in the state, repeatedly telling the New Jersey Business & Industry Association that it's their biggest concern.About 85 percent of employers offer health benefits, with 83 percent saying they continue to do so to attract and retain workers, according to NJBIA's Health Benefits Survey.The lack of choices in health plans for small employers is something the health industry is aware of and focusing on.


besides foxnews

Venezuela's health care is such a failure, scraped knee turns into medical crisis

Venezuela's health care is such a failure, scraped knee turns into medical crisis

As the health care system collapses, the tiniest slips, like a little girl's tumble while chasing her brother, are turning into life-or-death crises.It was just a scraped knee.So 3-year-old Ashley Pacheco's parents did what parents do: They gave her a hug, cleaned the wound twice with rubbing alcohol and thought no more of it.


in the same way politico

Rumors, expectations surround Apple expansion into health care

Rumors, expectations surround Apple expansion into health care

A job ad — deleted last week — sought a legal counsel specializing in health care data privacy and FDA compliance.| AP Photo Rumors, expectations surround Apple expansion into health careApple appears to be preparing a major move into the health care industry, expanding from its platform of fitness and clinical trial enrollment apps into an area that could include FDA-regulated sensors, advanced clinical decision support and even electronic health records.The tech giant is cementing partnerships with big health systems and hiring scores of health care professionals.