Click HERE to sign our petition!
We have identified several issues below that we believe GW has an obligation to address immediately. We will continue to pressure the University until it makes a firm commitment to strike these wholly unnecessary exclusions from its student health policy.
We believe in a healthy and humane GW.
1) Remove the “Self Harm” clause from our healthcare policy:
Our current health insurance policy claims that it will not cover “Any services or supplies given by providers as a result of suicide, attempted suicide, or intentionally self inflicted injury.” GW-GSU believes that it is an unnecessary and harmful policy that stigmatizes mental health and risks putting additional burdens on already vulnerable individuals.
Neither George Mason University nor Catholic University, both of which also provide insurance through Aetna, include this cruel clause in its policy.
2)Include comprehensive transgender & gender non-conforming healthcare rights:
While our current policy does cover “Surgical, hormone replacement therapy, and counseling treatment” related to “gender reassignment,” it also claims that it will not pay for any “cosmetic” treatment.Some of these procedures deemed “cosmetic” include gender-affirming procedures like top surgery, hair removal, and voice modification.
We agree with groups like the Transgender Law Center that it is up to the individual and their physician, not Aetna, to determine what is medically necessary.Any pre-set exclusion of “cosmetic” procedures is an unacceptable method of providing adequate healthcare. GW should make assisting its trans students and employees a priority, especially in light of recent attacks by the Trump administration.
The GW Citizen 