Berkley considers the cost of Sex Reassignment Surgery

Sex reassignment surgery as city employees' benefits (Credit: Nalilo)

The city of Berkley is looking into the cost of sex reassignment surgery as part of city employees’ benefits. The proposal was put forward by openly gay Council members Darryl Moore and Kriss Worthington.

If Berkeley does decide to cover sex reassignment surgery for its employees it will join the city of San Francisco and large corporations such as General Motors, IBM, Eastman Kodak and Hallmark Cards, and the University of California and University of Michigan, in providing the option to those it covers.

When San Francisco first started to cover the procedure in 2001 it charged everyone insured an extra $1.70 per month, in anticipation of a wave of people applying for the surgery. But by 2005 it had collected $5.6 million and only paid out $183,000 for 11 claims, according to an article in the Oakland Tribune. The city initially reduced the surcharge and finally dropped it and now the surgery is covered by the city's three insurance carriers: Kaiser Permanent, Blue Cross and Blue Shield, and Health Net.