> ## Content Index
> Fetch the complete content index at: https://thedailyeudemon.com/llms.txt
> Use this file to discover other available public pages before exploring further.

# Yes, Sex Change Operations Were Covered
- URL: https://thedailyeudemon.com/2231/
- Published: 2005-09-01T23:08:28.000Z
- Updated: 2005-09-01T23:08:28.000Z
- Author: Eric Scheske
- Tags: Current Affairs, TWE, #wpChunk

> The state of Minnesota is quietly getting out of the business of paying for three controversial treatments that affect the sex lives or sex organs of low-income patients.

> Starting today, the state will no longer cover routine circumcisions, unless "required by religious practice," under its insurance plans for 670,000 low-income Minnesotans, according to the Department of Human Services.

> It's also dropping coverage of Viagra and other impotence drugs.

> And last month, it completely stopped paying for sex-change operations. . .

> Minnesota has tried to end Medicaid payments for sex-change operations for 10 years. But activists have challenged the restrictions in court. As a result, two to three people a year have had their sex-change operations paid for by state programs, at a total cost of about $15,000 in state funds, officials say. The new law, which took effect Aug. 1, "completely closes the loophole," Geroux said.

> State lawyers say they expect court challenges to continue. Phil Duran, a lawyer for OutFront Minnesota, an advocacy group, says he's appealing the department's denials to five patients awaiting sex-change surgery. "It's certainly our position that this is not about saving money," he said. "This is about imposing a \[penalty\] on politically unpopular people."

[Link](http://www.startribune.com/stories/462/5590176.html?ref=thedailyeudemon.com).