Kevin Knauss: Health, History, Travel, Insurance
Posts on equality: Lesbian, Gay, Bi-sexual, Transgender, Queer and Intersex topics, including HIV/AIDS and gay marriage and health care, insurance benefits.
A Texas U.S. District Court Judge ordered the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) not to enforce rules against discriminating against transgender health care services in health insurance policies. The order was issued on December 31, 2016 before the new nondiscrimination rules were set to go into effect. The nondiscrimination rules are part of Section 1557, the nondiscrimination provision of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). A lawsuit brought by The Becket Fund for Religious Liberty
As a Certified Insurance Agent for Covered California I am scrupulous when it comes to reading each question on the application for health insurance exactly as written, except when the Covered California application asks for the sex of the applicant. Instead, I ask for the person’s or dependent’s gender. Covered California should stop asking about a person’s sex and allow them to specify a gender.
On a warm, but breezy, Saturday afternoon, a memorial for the victims of the Orlando, Florida, Pulse nightclub shooting was held in downtown Roseville. Organized by local resident David Larson, speakers included elected officials and representative of several religious faiths. Roseville Stands With Orlando Memorial The recent gun violence that killed black men in Minnesota, […]
Hundreds of people turned out in force to protest against the anti-gay beliefs of the Verity Baptist Church in Sacramento. Pastor Jimenez of Verity Baptist Church posted a recording of his sermon on Sunday, June 12, 2016, stating that Christians should not mourn over the deaths of 49 people killed in a mass shooting at a gay nightclub in Orlando, Florida, earlier that morning. He went on to preach that it was God’s intention that gays should be put to death. He also mentioned that the shooter didn’t finish the job by not killing all the people in the gay nightclub.
People who are HIV positive are living longer and leading healthy and fulfilling lives because of advances in drug therapies to control the disease. The life insurance industry has taken note and has started to offer life insurance products to those living with HIV. The life insurance rates for people with HIV are actually reasonable for some income levels.
Covered California has sent Certified Insurance Agents information and links on sensitivity and sales training for the Lesbian, Gay, Bi-Sexual and Transgender community. The sensitivity training presentation and social media icons were developed by Out2Enroll a national organization encouraging the enrollment of the LGBT community into Marketplace health insurance. While the overall information is good, there is underlying sales element that reduces the community down to dollar signs instead of human beings.
The Department of Health and Human Services has proposed health insurance rules that would prohibit the discrimination of health care services based a person’s gender identity. The proposed non-discrimination rule would apply nationwide to all health insurance offered through ACA Health Insurance Marketplaces. If the rule is adopted, transgender health related services could not be denied even in states that have not specifically enacted non-discrimination legislation.
Two Supreme Court opinions involving the Affordable Care Act and gay marriage have the net effect of uniting the states to act as one country. The tenth amendment to the constitution gives a fair amount of power to the states to enact laws that can directly conflict or undermine national policy set by the federal […]
With the City of Sacramento formally approving the installation of rainbow colored crosswalks in midtown Sacramento, proponents of the project hope they’ll now see a rainstorm of money to actually install the fancy crossing stripes. The rainbow crosswalk project at the intersection of 20th and K St. is as much an homage to the LGBTQ […]
With the passage of the Insurance Gender Nondiscrimination Act (IGNA), also known as AB 1586, all California health insurance plans must cover medically necessary transgender health care services. Unfortunately, many health plan customer service representatives and many health care providers are not aware of the law and have erroneously denied or delayed coverage and treatment […]
