After three marriages that all quickly broke up as soon as she told her male and female spouses she felt trapped in the wrong body, Lynn Riordan decided she couldn't remain a man the rest of her life. So at age 39, she began taking hormones that would gradually begin her transformation from man to woman. Then, unemployed but with $11,000 scraped up from the equity on her home, she paid for a sex-change operation four years ago in Montreal, where she says such procedures cost less than in the United States. "It seems to be a medical condition, not a choice, and many people have tried to be what they are not. I did, for 30 years, and couldn't do it anymore." Today, the 49-year-old Riordan is an accounts clerk for Berkeley's finance department and because of her persistence, the city will consider allowing sex-change operations to be covered as part of its employee health benefits. City Council members Darryl Moore and Kriss Worthington are asking the city manager and the city's personnel board to explore the financial feasibility of offering the benefit to any of the city's approximately 1,500 employees. They are to report back in six months. Moore said Riordan brought the issue to his attention as an equity issue. Noting that the city's health care providers, Kaiser Permanente and Health Net of California, cover heart surgery and gallbladder surgery, Riordan couldn't understand why sex change surgery should be treated any differently. "They have these exclusions specifically for transgender surgery being covered, and it's just not fair," Riordan said. "This is not about choice; it's a birth defect. It's just to alleviate suffering for some people, and, well, that's a noble thing." Riordan said ignorance "is driving the fear to removing the exclusions to allow the surgery." Brad Kieffer, a spokesman for Health Net of California, which insures 2.3 million customers in the state, said the company doesn't normally cover sex-change surgery under its group benefits, but will add them if a company or municipality asks. Kaiser Permanente spokeswoman Alix Saben said Kaiser offers sex-change-operation benefits to all University of California employees and San Francisco city employees, but groups must ask for it to be included in their plan. "It's really controversial, that's really the answer. The society doesn't view it the same way as a birth defect, they view it as a psychiatric issue, and the psychiatrist and the patient make the decision whether it's medically necessary," Saben said. San Francisco started offering the benefit to its employees in 2001, said Marcus Arana, a discrimination investigator with the city's Human Rights Commission and one of the architects of the policy. Arana said he faced resistance from people who feared it would end up costing the city too much money because those wanting the surgery would flock to San Francisco to get jobs or marry city employees just to get the benefits. Insurance companies don't offer it unless specifically asked, and out of fear, he said. Through 2005 the city collected $5.6 million from employees in increased premiums to cover the benefit, but paid just $183,000 on 11 claims for different surgeries, Arana said. Worthington said many U.S. corporations offer the benefit, so Berkeley should, too. "I just think it's time for Berkeley to catch up with mainstream corporate America on this issue," Worthington said. "I think it's a medically desirable thing for Berkeley to include in health plans." Moore said San Francisco's experience shows it won't cost Berkeley much money, and it's the right thing to do. If Berkeley approves the plan, those who want the surgery will be able to avoid the financial and emotional hardship Riordan faced four years ago. "There's so much suffering involved when you don't have the surgery," Riordan said. "Every single day you suffer it."
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Saturday, May 05, 2007
City worker pushes for sex-change coverage
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