The following extract is taken from a letter to
Ms Kayleen White, Co-Convenor TransGender Victoria.
From The Health Insurance Commission.,
1 May 2000
" The Health Insurance Commission has recognised the
needs of persons who undergo gender reassignment and also
seeks to introduce changes that protect individual
privacy. The HIC's policy is that before a person's
gender can be amended in Medicare records the HIC seeks
to be satisfied that the person has changed their gender
both in a psychological and physical sense. This policy
is based on legal precedent as determined by
courts….
The usual procedure for such a change is to require
advice from the person's surgeon that surgery has been
completed. The HIC does recoginse the hazards associated
with female to male gender reassignment and would not
insist that a person have this type of surgery completed
as a prerequisite to amending Medicare records. The
Medicare assessing system does recognise gender in the
assessment of some Medicare items as it is relevant to
particular procedures as illustrated in your examples.
The HIC agrees that processes need to handle claims for
services to all clients appropriately.
The HIC is examining different procedures to prevent
gender conflicts during claims assessing processes where
a person has changed their gender in Medicare Records.The
privacy and protection of health care consumer
information is paramount to the HIC. The HIC operates
under strict privacy legislation and our staff are
required to sign a declaration that they acknowledge
privacy requirements and action is taken by the HIC in
relation to any improper access by staff."
If you have any queries the contact person is:
Geoff Gillett
Manager Eligibility
Health & Insurance Commission
134 Reed Street
P.O. Box 1001
Tuggeranong ACT 2901
Phone: (02) 6124 6593
Fax: (02) 6124 7600
