The number of employers worldwide that offer their employees at least one health insurance plan covering transgender medical services has increased a whopping 1,200 percent in the last eight years alone.
According to the Human Rights Campaign, a pro-LGBT organization that advocates for transgender rights, only 49 employers offered health insurance plans that included transgender medical services back in 2009.
By 2017, that number had jumped to 647 -- an increase of more than 13 times in less than a decade.
According to MedCityNews, transgender medical services included under these health care plans can include plastic surgery, hormone therapy, vocal surgery and voice therapy, genital and reproductive surgery, and “gender education.” And, just like other non-trans-related medical care, coverage for these services can extend to an employee’s minor dependents.
The list of employers that now cover transgender procedures under their company health care plans include a few of the typical left-leaning names, such as Apple, Barnes & Noble, Facebook and Google. The list also includes several airlines such as American Airlines, JetBlue and Delta, a slew of popular restaurants and clothing outlets, and more than a few banks.
The cost of transgender services varies wildly, depending on what a person chooses to have done, and where. While it's hard to put a final price tag on "transitioning," a 2015 report by Time estimated that basic procedures like facial hair removal can run as high as $20,000, while the cost of actual "reassignment" surgery can easily top $100,000.
Despite the skyrocketing number of employers worldwide that now cover transgender services under their medical plans, according to the Williams Institute at UCLA, individuals who identify as transgender still account for only 0.6 percent of the U.S. population.