SALEM, Ore. — Benefits for Oregon state employees now include insurance coverage for surgeries related to sex changes.
Public Employee Benefits Board Administrator Joan Kapowich says it will cover any operation a doctor says is medically necessary.
The Statesman Journal reports the policy is a result of a settlement with a state employee who filed a discrimination suit after the employee was denied coverage in 2011 for a hysterectomy. The operation was recommended by a doctor for transition from a woman to a man.
The state settled out of court Jan. 14 and agreed to pay the employee $36,000.
