VA-rule-sex-reassignment-surgery | MilitaryTimes

I agree.. The vet should be at least half responsible for the cost.
When I was an ER nurse and a nurse at the county Jail .. I had a Medicaid patient who was in transition.. Mind you this person was on disability to due to this "mental illness" per his report. He seemed perfectly capable and glad he was getting this freebie. And us working tax payers are responsible for his transition ?

I always thought that if it wasn't in your records as being service connected you had to pay a portion of the cost.

I read an article a few years ago about why breast enlargement surgery was being authorized by the military. If you disregard all the psychology issues associated with this type of cosmetic surgery, the skills needed to perform breast enlargement surgery was an invaluable way for military surgeons treating combat casualties who required reconstructive surgery to hone their skills. One of the things that has come out of this war is that genital injuries as a result of blast injuries were difficult to treat and required long term treatment. The total number of service members affected was less than 100 if I remember right, but it was seen as a serious deficiency for the military medical community to treat. The same type of experience doing gender reassignment surgery could also improve reconstructive surgical skills for combat wounded service members who sustained genital injuries.

So the history of the VA and the military in recent years to expand into elective surgeries like this have been proven to be beneficial.