Unitedhealth Medicare Plan Must Cover U.S. Sex Reassignment Surgery

A U.S. government panel has ruled that a privately run Medicare plan must cover sex reassignment surgery for a Texas transgender woman, a decision her attorney said was the first of its kind. Charlene Lauderdale, a U.S. Air Force veteran, first sought surgery through her UnitedHealthcare/AARP Medicare Complete insurance plan in November 2014. The federally funded plan, operated by a unit of UnitedHealth Group Inc, denied the request. An administrative law judge with the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services ruled last April that the plan must cover the surgery, and the agency's Medicare . . .