How to Lift the Financing Burden of Your Gender Confirmation Surgery

Admit it, Kaitlyn Jenner had it easy when she transitioned. Others, however, are not so lucky. Besides having a difficult time conforming and coming out to friends and family, health care coverage is also becoming a struggle for many.
Sure, about a third of Fortune 500 companies have transgender-inclusive coverage for their employees . And there’s the Affordable Care Act (ACA) prompting expanded access to healthcare for transgender folks. But these improvements are still insubstantial for a majority of the transgender community.

Fortunately, several organizations are taking bold steps in advancing corporate policies and health care coverage for lesbian, gay, bisexual, and transgender employees.

Insurance Coverage for Transgender Surgery in San Francisco

At our San Francisco transgender surgery practice, we will help put your mind at ease about coverage. Our insurance concierge will call and verify with your insurance provider.

Hop on to this comprehensive guide to insurance coverage on transgender surgery in San Francisco that we updated recently.

What if your insurance provider doesn’t cover gender confirmation surgery? The following options can help fund for your surgical transition:

Surgery Financing Companies

Surgery financing companies like CareCredit® can help finance your procedure of choice. The CareCredit®  card is just as easy to use as a regular credit card, yet it’s designed specifically for health care and cosmetic surgery needs.

You can even use your CareCredit®  card for your follow-up appointments. Keep in mind that it may be best to apply for CareCredit®  through a partner surgeon as some surgeons can set their own interest rates. This is beneficial for you as most of these surgeons set low interest rates to help their patients.

You can read more about how CareCredit® works here. You can also get in touch with us about applying for CareCredit® to help finance your MTF or FTM surgery.

Grants and Foundations

Transgender organizations, like the Jim Collins Foundation, offers assistance via medical grants for those needing transgender surgery. You can learn more about the organization’s criteria selection here.

Other organizations and foundations in the U.S. that help finance transgender surgeries by providing medical grants and other forms of support include the following:

• TUFF ( Trans United with Family and Friends)  – TUFF aims to assist vulnerable transgender individuals by providing financial resources (and other forms of support) for surgery and mental health options.

• CK LIFE Scholarship Grant –  Their Surgery Buddy Assistance program is worth checking out.

• Point5cc Transgender Surgery Fund  – This trans-pride clothing company hosts the Annual Transgender Surgery Fund for people who need gender-confirming surgery but lack financial support and resources. Proceeds from their sales also go toward chest binder donation for trans men.

• Black Trans Advocacy FTM Health Fund – While they do not fund actual surgery cost, this health fund offers after care support, therapy funding, and legal documentation funding.

Other ways to help finance your transgender surgery:

• When applying for university, look out for schools who have health insurance plans that include transgender-inclusive benefits.
• Consider crowdsourcing. Here’s a neat guide on transgender surgery crowdsourcing by the folks behind TransGuys.

Got a burning question about gender confirmation surgery?

Please contact our San Francisco plastic surgery office at 415-780-1515 to speak with one of our team members today. We’d love to help out in any way we can!