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"Male and female created he
them; and blessed them, and
called their name Adam, in the
day when they were created,"
Genesis 5:2.
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Gov. Andrew Cuomo approved a new policy last week requiring New York taxpayers to pay for Medicaid recipients' sex-change operations and other transgender services. State officials estimated the services to cost taxpayers an extra $6.7 million a year. Some critics of the administration said the cost will be more than $10 million per year as out of state transgender individuals relocate to New York for free sex change operations.
There are presently 353 men (who want to be women) and 308 women (who want to be men) on Medicaid and who secured a diagnoses of persistent gender dysphoria (not feeling one's gender identity is consistent with their physical sex), which is what is needed to get taxpayers to pay for sex change operations or hormone therapy.
The proposed new Medicaid regulations would require a medical professional to document that a patient not only has persistent gender dysphoria but received hormone therapy for at least a year, has lived a minimum of one year in their preferred gender role and has received mental health counseling.
Sex-change operations — which include testicle removal, breast augmentation and mastectomy — range from $15,000 to $60,000 plus hormone maintenance and counseling services.
Taxpayers will pay, through higher property taxes in the counties they live in, for this new Medicaid plan but only for transgender people who are over 18; patients must be 21 to get taxpayer-funded surgery that results in sterilization.
?"New York state has always been a progressive leader and ensuring that all New Yorkers — regardless of gender identity — are treated fairly will continue this legacy," Cuomo said.
New York joins Oregon, Massachusetts, Vermont, Washington, DC, and Maryland in requiring taxpayers to pay for sex change services to residents who can't pay for it themselves.
Michael Silverman, director of the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Policy, objected to Cuomo limiting the transgender services to adults while excluding youths.
New York's $55 billion Medicaid program is the costliest in the USA contributing in large part to New York State being the highest taxes state in the USA.
The public will have 45 days to comment on the proposed Medicaid regulation.
New York State also recently revised its birth certificate policy to allow transgender people to step back in time and "correct" their birth certificates to reflect their chosen biological sex. |