Gender Dysphoria is the diagnosis given to people who experience extreme distress because there is a disconnect between the sex they were born with and how they identity themselves. GLAD (Gay and Lesbian Advocates and Defenders )attorney Ben Klein says the financial impact on the state will less than a penny per health insurance premium.

“For well over two decades now this has been the standard of care for as treatment for Gender Dyspohria. And the exclusions that we see in our medicaid policy and other policies by private insurers are really obsolete.” Klein says insurers, “haven’t caught up and this is really an effort to to ensure that people will get the health care they need.

Klein adds that because of rigorous prerequisites, only a small number of people will be able to take advantage of the benefit. Massachusetts is one of six states, along with Connecticut and Vermont that will also require private insurers to offer coverage; earlier this month the federal government ended the ban on medicare coverage for sex reassignment surgery.