Appeal type: Medical necessity
Decision: Upheld

Diagnosis:  Gender Dysphoria-Gender Dysphoria
Treatment:  Surgical Services

The patient is a transgender female.  She has been on hormone therapy for nine years.  She desires facial feminization.  Her psychiatrist has cleared her for surgery.  She is reported to have severe dysphoria due to her facial features.  The subject under review is the medical necessity of the requested procedures.

The health plan's determination is upheld.

According to the World Professional Association for Transgender Health (WPATH) guidelines, pages 63-64: "Other surgeries for assisting in body feminization include reduction thyroid chondroplasty (reduction of the Adam's apple), voice modification surgery, suction-assisted lipoplasty (contour modeling) of the waist, rhinoplasty (nose correction), facial bone reduction, face-lift, and blepharoplasty (rejuvenation of the eyelid).  Other surgeries for assisting in body masculinization include liposuction, lipo-lling, and pectoral implants.  Voice surgery to obtain a deeper voice is rare but may be recommended in some cases, such as when hormone therapy has been ineffective.  Although these surgeries do not require referral by mental health professionals, such professionals can play an important role in assisting clients in making a fully informed decision about the timing and implications of such procedures in the context of the social transition.  Although most of these procedures are generally labeled 'purely aesthetic', these same operations in an individual with severe gender dysphoria can be considered medically necessary, depending on the unique clinical situation of a given patient's condition and life situation.  This ambiguity reflects reality in clinical situations and allows for individual decisions as to the need and desirability of these procedures."  The records do not document any unique situations.  These are aesthetic procedures to make the patient more attractive in her new gender.  According to a study by Ainsworth and Spiegel: "There was no statistically significant difference in the mental health-related quality of life among transgendered women who had gender reassignment surgery (GRS), facial feminization surgery (FFS), or both."  Although the study showed that transgender women without surgical intervention had lower mental health related quality of life compared to transgender women, women who had both FFS and GRS did not have improved mental health outcomes compared to those who had GRS alone.  According to a systematic review of the literature on facial feminization, "Satisfaction was high, although most studies did not use validated or quantified approaches to address satisfaction."  A recent study by Morrison et al confirms that outcome reporting on the benefits of FFS has been disparate and non-standardized.  The mental health benefits of facial feminization and voice surgery have not been rigorously studied with validated outcome measurements.  A 2018 meta-analysis concluded: "Evidence suggests that transgender people have lower quality of life (QoL) than the general population.  Some evidence suggests that QoL improves post-treatment.  Better quality studies that include clearly defined transgender populations, divided by stage of gender affirming treatment and with appropriate matched control groups are needed to draw firmer conclusions."

For this specific patient, photos were reviewed, but do not change the determination.  The records still do not document any unique circumstances that support a medical need for facial surgery in this case.

In addition, peer literature does not clearly show improvements in anxiety or depression in transgender women treated with facial feminization.  These are procedures to make the patient more attractive in her new gender.