Inclusive Healthcare Plans For Transgenders In India
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In today's day and age, when hospitalisation costs have skyrocketed, medical insurance coverage is nothing short of essential. Although the transgender community is not explicitly prohibited from seeking medical insurance coverage, there are numerous problems with paying for gender reassignment surgery.
Need To Include Transgender Applicants In Healthcare Plans
Transgender applicants must be explicitly considered in insurance company underwriting decisions, which experts say will make it simpler for community members to get information and encourage them to purchase health insurance. To encourage members of the community to enrol in health insurance, insurers must post their methodology for considering transgender proposals on their websites.
Although the process is far from simple, some insurers provide coverage to both the LGBTQ+ population and transgender people. Since 2016, the Life Insurance Corporation of India's proposal forms have included a "third gender" option. The community is also covered by Bajaj Allianz General Insurance.
Centre’s Stand On Health Insurance For Transgenders
The goal of the Ayushman Bharat Pradhan Mantri Jan Arogya Yojana (PMJAY), a national public health insurance fund provider, is to provide low-income Indians with access to and affordability of healthcare.
The central Union Health Minister Mansukh Mandaviya claimed that the transgender population would have access to composite healthcare services with yearly insurance coverage of $5 lakh per beneficiary, adding to the ambitious programme. On top of that, the minister lauded the action as "one of a kind" in the nation.
Creating Respectful and Legal Access to Healthcare
The National Health Authority (NHA), and Social Justice and Empowerment, signed a Memorandum of Understanding (MoU) to include a composite healthcare service provision for transgender people under the Ayushman Bharat-PMJAY.
The MoU was signed in the presence of Mansukh Mandaviya, Union Minister of Health & Family Welfare, and Virendra Kumar, Union Minister of Social Justice and Empowerment, who praised it as a groundbreaking initiative in the nation that ensures a proper and respectable space for transgender people to access healthcare.
According to the plan, the ministry of social justice and empowerment (MOSJE) would allot a yearly sum of 5 lakh insurance cover for each person who identified as transgender. Sex reassignment surgery (SRS), hormone treatment for transgender people, and other customised packages that could include hormonal therapy, laser surgery, and other procedures are all included in the full healthcare package.
The MoU was signed at the Dr. Ambedkar International Centre in memory of the man who drafted the Indian Constitution and fought for a society that was inclusive of all population groups.
Who Is Eligible To Utilise The Healthcare Benefits?
According to the MoU, transgender people nationwide who possess a transgender certificate issued by the National Portal for Transgender Equality are eligible for healthcare benefits.
The provisions were chosen with the community's long history of stigma and marginalisation in mind. Then it was stated that the inclusive healthcare benefits were a big step in eradicating this stigma. The minister emphasised the same and noted the numerous systematic measures being taken by the government to recognise the rights and safeguard the welfare of the transgender population.
Transgender applicants must be explicitly considered in insurance company underwriting decisions, which experts say will make it simpler for community members to get information and encourage them to purchase health insurance. To encourage members of the community to enrol in health insurance, insurers must post their methodology for considering transgender proposals on their websites.
Conclusion
Despite 18.81 crore people having verified under the programme since its debut in 2018, hardly one-third of the target population has insurance. The programme recently stated that it would co-brand Ayushman cards with the relevant states to guarantee that the users would receive healthcare services provided by both the state and federal governments.
Also read: Why Should You Buy Health Insurance Plans With Short Waiting Period?
