Click HERE to sign on to our petition which calls on the university to remove these harmful and unnecessary clauses from our healthcare policy:
- 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.
- 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 