Transgender Veterans Left Waiting as Biden Administration Fails to Implement Surgery Coverage

The Biden government is set to leave office without keeping a commitment to transgender veterans through the Department of Veterans Affairs (VA) to offer gender-affirming surgery. Many supporters of the unmet promise are demoralized and worried about the direction transgender healthcare may take under the incoming Trump presidency.

VA Secretary Denis McDonough revealed in June 2021 intentions to remove the ban on veterans' gender-affirming operations. Along with other early Biden administration moves like removing the ban on transgender service personnel, the action was regarded as a turning point in LGBTQ+ rights. McDonough stressed, at the time, that the policy change would call for a protracted rulemaking process, including cost-benefit studies.

The procedure was halted years later. McDonough connected advancement to the VA's review of the PACT Act, a 2022 statute extending VA eligibility, and routinely pointed to unresolved uncertainties. Originally scheduled for July 2024, the analysis is still unfinished, and no policy has been adopted.

Advocates—including the Transgender American Veterans Association—have voiced dismay; some have even started legal action to demand coverage. Although the VA now pays for some gender-affirming treatments, including hormone therapy, surgeries are still expressly forbidden.

The delay has put transgender veterans in a vulnerable state as Republican-led initiatives to limit LGBTQ+ rights gather steam. Fears over the reversal of current VA gender-affirming treatment have been raised by the incoming Trump government's indication of a desire to undo transgender-friendly policy.

Lindsay Church of Minority Veterans of America said, "This issue has actual consequences for people's life." "The delay has left us vulnerable to political fluctuations; now, we face even more uncertainty."

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