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Updated: Wed May. 14 2008 6:36:26 PM
The Ontario government may resume paying for sex change operations, CTV News has learned.
Sources say the Liberals are strongly considering the move to cover sexual reassignment surgery, which OHIP stopped paying for years ago, CTV Toronto’s Paul Bliss reported.
Health Minister George Smitherman said Wednesday he has an obligation to consider the health of every resident in the province, and re-enlisting sex change operations is something the Ontario Human Rights Commission has repeatedly called for.
About 10 people a year in Ontario undergo the surgery, which would cost OHIP about $200,000. Smitherman said the figure can easily be covered in the government’s $40-billion health care budget.
“It’s something that’s always been a matter of consideration for me,” the minister said of having the government pay for the operation.
“As a representative for the riding of Toronto-Centre, I tend to know more of these (transgendered) folks than most other people would, so my level of awareness, I suppose, informs me perhaps a little more personally.”
NDP MPP Cheri DiNovo also says the surgery improves people’s lives.
“It’s a minority that suffers greatly — they have a huge high rate of suicide, depression,” DiNovo said.
“It’s a community that’s beset by violence. This is the trans life in our community and we should do everything we can to make their life easier.”
Those who undergo the procedures are subjected to rigorous psychological examination and months, sometimes years, of preparation.
