More than 9,000 undergraduate and graduate students are covered under the Penn Student Insurance Plan. For many of them, PSIP is their best health insurance option.
But PSIP is not as comprehensive as it could be. In the past, it has not covered treatments for transgender students undergoing the process of gender reassignment. Without these treatments — including psychological therapy, hormone therapy and surgery — those who are transgender can become depressed and potentially suicidal. Not covering this treatment excludes a segment of the population that does not deserve to be left out.
Thankfully, this discrimination is about to end. In the next academic year, PSIP will cover costs of the gender-confirmation process, including the costs of gender-reassignment surgery up to $50,000.
Adding benefits for transgender students will likely increase PSIP premiums by only a few cents. Since including coverage for gender-confirmation treatments won’t drastically impact overall insurance costs, it makes sense to make this move.
The transgender population may be small, but no one deserves to be set back because of their gender or sexual identity. We appreciate efforts by the Lambda Alliance to pay more attention to the needs of the transgender community, and we’re pleased the University has listened to students’ concerns.
