UNIVERSITY TO PAY FOR GENDER SURGERY

A US University’s medical aid has agreed to cover up to $50,000 towards the cost of gender reassignment for its transgender students.

The University of Pennsylvania’s Student Insurance Plan will now include treatments such as psychotherapy, oestrogen or testosterone hormone treatment and sex reassignment surgery as part of its benefits.

According to The Daily Pennsylvania the initiative was introduced by the previous Lambda Alliance board, chaired by College senior Dennie Zastrow.

“A problem with LGBT advocacy at Penn in the past had been that we overlooked the needs of transgender students,” Zastrow told the newspaper. “We previously were [discriminating], and now we’re taking steps to rectify that.”

The cost of the university’s medical insurance premiums is expected to only increase by a few cents to cover the new benefit.