Gender-Affirmation Surgery: What Are The Government's Revised Health Benefits?

No part of being outside the gender binary in India is easy –– from unacceptance to harassment, and brutality to bias, individuals identifying as anything other than heterosexual male or female are always under scrutiny.

In a rather positive move, the Ayushman Bharat, the health insurance scheme by the Indian government will provide medical cover to transgender people, and also support medical procedures such as gender-affirmation surgeries (incorrectly referred to as sex-change surgeries).

Under Support for Marginalised Individuals for Livelihood and Enterprise (SMILE), the health cover of INR 5 Lakhs per family per year at public and private hospitals will extend to transgender persons –– as medical support and medical intervention.

The revisions are a part of the National Health Authority’s revised Health Benefits Package (HBP 2.2).

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