New York City Mayor Bill de Blasio said that gender reassignment surgeries would be covered by Medicare for All under his administration on Sunday.
“Absolutely. We have to respect everyone’s medical needs,” de Blasio said when asked if his Medicare for All plan, a policy which has seen near-unanimous support in the Democratic primary field, would cover the procedure.
“If someone needs a surgery to be full and to live their life fully — the idea is a health-care system that actually serves everyone to the fullest, not a health-care system that rations and causes people to struggle to get just a little health care,” he continued.
.@BilldeBlasio tells me gender reassignment surgery should be paid for by Medicare for All #NYCPrideMarch pic.twitter.com/7fC2NbQm9A
— Zak Hudak (@cbszak) June 30, 2019
De Blasio is officially the first Democratic presidential candidate who would seek to cover reassignment surgeries under a Medicare for All system. The real question now is: who will follow suit?