Yale Health will now offer coverage of gender-reassignment surgeries

In a Thursday email to the student body, Yale Health announced that it will cover expenses related to medically necessary sex-reassignment surgery “subject to pre-authorization based on widely accepted standards of care.”

The expanded coverage is part of a series of updates to student coverage announced by Yale Health in an email to the campus this afternoon. The coverage changes, which will go into effect Aug. 1, also include two changes to mental health policies — the removal of a waiting period between inpatient care days covered by Yale’s insurance plan, and an increase in mental health coverage for enrolled children from 16 daytime visits to 25 annually.

Additional expanded coverage items also include:

• Prescription coverage included in hospitalization/specialty coverage.
• There is no longer an annual dollar limit for durable medical equipment.
• $25 copay for Yale Health Allergy Department office visits.
• Copay for specialty services outside of the Yale Health Center increases from $10 to $20.

Director of University Health Services Paul Genecin was out of the country and could not be reached for comment at the current time. In an interview with the News last month, Genecin confirmed that Yale Health has hired one additional staff member in its Psychiatry Department.

The changes come from recommendations by Yale Health’s Student Coverage Task Force, a committee convened in 2008 that makes recommendations for improvements to student coverage annually.