Concordance of National Insurance Criteria with WPATH Standards of Care for Gender-Affirming Surgery.

Abstract

Given that gender-affirming surgery (GAS) is considered medically necessary for transgender and gender diverse (TGD) individuals who desire it, the aim of this study is to assess the concordance of insurance criteria for GAS with the most recent World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) Standards of Care Version 8 (SOC-8). Insurance policies for coverage of gender-affirming genital ("bottom surgery"), chest ("top surgery"), and facial reconstruction from companies representing 80% of the market coverage in each state were evaluated. Policies were classified into three categories: no-coverage (NC), case-by-case (CC), and preauthorization (PA). Among PA policies, criteria for coverage of specific surgeries were analyzed for adherence to WPATH SOC-8. Bottom surgery policies were most concordant for age and gender dysphoria criteria, and transmasculine top surgery policies were most concordant for hormone therapy, continuous living in a congruent gender role, and referral criteria. transfeminine top surgery criteria were more restrictive than transmasculine criteria. The most discordant criteria was for hormone therapy, being required for at least 12 months prior to surgery in the majority of surveyed policies. Many specific procedures and treatments were excluded, especially facial GAS with cosmetic overlap. Additionally, reversal and revisionary surgeries were covered in less than 25% of policies. Compared to previous literature, insurance coverage and criteria alignment are becoming more concordant with medical guidelines. However, significant barriers to care are still present for GAS.