Gender Discrimination to be Removed from Medicare

All gender discrimination will be completely removed from Medicare.
Minister for Health Tania Plibersek and the Minister for Human Services, Jan McLucas made the announcement yesterday, saying those who need a medical treatment under Medicare will be able to get it without discussing or disclosing their gender as male, female, transgender or otherwise.
“At the moment, there are some Medicare services described as being for a man or a woman,” Ms Plibersek said. “This has caused discrimination against gender diverse Australians who have had to have unnecessary discussions about their gender identity in order to get access to a Medicare service, or to claim a rebate for one at a Medicare office. “For example, someone who has a uterus may actually identify their gender as male. Under current arrangements, some Medicare covered medical procedures involving the uterus are described as ‘female’ or for ‘women’.”
The Government’s changes will remove the gender references.
“These changes will also make a big difference to intersex Australians, who may not wish to identify as any gender,” Ms Plibersek said. “We are able to remove references to gender in Medicare by doing things like describing a medical procedure in more detail, or using anatomical language instead. “These changes bring Medicare into line with the Government’s new Guidelines on the Recognition of Sex and Gender.
The changes were made after consultation with the National Lesbian, Gay, Bisexual, Transgender and Intersex Health Alliance and the Organisation Intersex International Australia.
To fully implement the Government’s reforms, changes will also need to be made to the claims and processing side of Medicare.
“The Department of Human Services and the Department of Health and Ageing have been working together to ensure all our systems and procedures are updated to reflect the changes,” Senator McLucas said. “This will mean people will no longer have to discuss their gender when making a claim through Medicare, including at a Medicare office.”
Some gender discriminatory language has recently been removed from Medicare. The remaining changes are going through the final stages of consultation with the intersex and gender diverse communities, and medical experts