365Gay.com – by 365Gay.com Newscenter Staff
Allentown, Pennsylvania – A 15-month battle with the administrator of a company insurance plan over the cost of sex reassignment surgery has ended in victory for an Ohio transsexual woman.
Electronics engineer Jan Stacy was told by company that its self insured plan covered the surgery, and in 2006 she entered hospital.
But when she later submitted her bills to the plan’s administrator, Highmark Blue Shield, it refused to pay.
Stacy went back to the company human resources officer and again was told the company plan included sex reassignment. Nevertheless, Highmark stood firm, refusing to pay.
She then took her case to Equality Advocates, a Pennsylvania organization that provides legal services to the LGBT community.
Even after the initial intervention of Equality Advocates, Highmark continued to insist that it owed no reimbursement to Stacy and extended the policy exclusions to a routine office visit.