What would you consider public funding of transgender care?

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Yes, if they are means-tested and within reason. Paying hundreds of thousands of dollars to make an aspie a highly outgoing and social butterfly isn't money well spent, but job search training, social skills training, and so on is.

Yes, but only after it treats disorders and diseases that directly kill you. You have 1. Saving life, then 2. Quality of life. Depression, mental health, disfigurment, gender problems, all those are quality of life issues. They aren't life or death issues unless the person involves commits suicide because of them. We have to help those who WILL DIE or be paralyzed, etc, without treatment before we treat those whose disorders make them sufficiently unhappy to end their own life. I have major depression, and while I would love to have free treatment for that, I would rather someone with diabetes or epilepsy or a tumor get treatment before I do. It's hard at times, but I can control my suicidal tendencies. I won't die from the depression directly. If I were to die from the depression it would be by making a decision to kill myself and going through with it. The same with gender issues. The OP won't die from being in the wrong body. She would die from making a decision to kill herself and going through with it because she doesn't want to be in that body. I'm not saying these aren't serious. They are. There just are more serious things out there which kill own their own without suicide. Those are the things we need to address first.

Following your logic, since there are undoubtedly people with fatal but curable diseases that still need help but aren't getting it, I guess we can strip public funding of all other care. This would include palliative care (since the pain won't kill ya), cataract surgery (since going blind won't kill ya), diagnosis and treatments for retinal tears and detachments (again, since going blind won't kill ya), mental health care (since those illnesses don't kill ya directly), and many other areas of care. Following OOM's logic, until every single person with a fatal but curable disease is taken care of, let us strip public funding of everything else! That'll be the way to control the deficit!

OOM might also wanna have a look at this, before she tries to claim depression ain't really that serious:

Depression 'second leading cause of disability worldwide'

http://www.medicalnewstoday.com/articles/268367.php

I'm already on the edge of disability, with available intermittent medical leave days (under FMLA) for half the working month each month, for anxiety and depression primarily due to gender dysphoria.

1. No argument was made. I cited three facts:

Fact 1: Medicare pays for 80% for scooters and lifts. I spent about one hour previously researching this on Medicare's website, and scooter websites.
Fact 2: I don't understand the rationale
Fact 3: The U.S. government is on a "spending binge" without financial restraint because in recent years the deficient have been 1-2 trillion.

My facts are not in question apparently, yet, somehow my supposed "argument" is called "self-defeating" and "piss poor".

If you disagree with these facts, then please explain.

2. I did not trivialize immobile people. Presently, in the U.S. prioritization of services happens, i.e., Medicare pays for X and not Y, to recognize this - is not trivializing the services that are paid for.

3. My first statement was merely pointing out that "medical necessity" does not mean death is a certainty if not treated. "Scooters" is an example where a doctor will write someone a statement of "medical necessity", so that Medicare will pay for it. However, not having a scooter will probably not lead to death.

4. My opinion is that you have absolutely no conception of gender dysphoria if you think simply being "immobile" (i.e., probably difficulty walking) is far worse than gender dysphoria. You provide no explanation for your rationale.

Just to call out everyone saying being transgender is easy, and gender dysphoria is not a big deal, think about it this way.

Say, you're born with a terrible birth defect, that goes unnoticed and ignored for 20+ years, finally you find out why you're always feeling sick, always dealing with more difficulties than anyone else, and always depressed and have no idea why anti-depressants don't work and help, no matter which ones you try, and which combination. If you were poor and on medicaid or something, wouldn't you want that to be able to be taken care of and fixed? Isn't that your right as a human being to be healthy and happy?

What role does social environment play in the equation? Where's the research on that? A lot of autistic think their lives could be much better if the social environment they lived in was different.

My birth defect is called Asperger's syndrome. Very little of the stuff I've needed was covered by the government.

Not as high as it is for returning vets who arealdy are not getting enough care. Or all the other people who already dont get enough because there isnt a budget for it.

I know all about depression. It's ruined my life.

Please get off your high horse about how "The world is conspiring to keep me from getting my medically neccessary surgery so I can have the body I was meant to have because The Republicans and the Conservative Democrats and the Tea Party are out to get me!!"

Also, stop implying that if someone doesn't put trangender issues above everything else that they are homophonbic, tansphobic and hurting the trans community.

It's a locigal medical, social and political decision.

Also, if they were to spend money on sex change operations left and right whose going to see you when you run to the doctor because your throat hurts, or you can't sleep, or your nose runs or you think you might should take a Benadryl? All the doctors will be tied up fixing crotches.

No, because that's (at this point in time) shown to be genetic. So, you're comment in not applicable.

Gender dysphoria is genetic. A transgendered man will typically have a brain that's structurally similar to that of a woman, whereas a transgendered woman will typically have a brain that's structurally similar to that of a man.

So do most people feel either male or female in their brains?In my brain I'm not really either,if that makes sense.

Good question. I feel 'neutral' in that regard. I'm biologically male, but so much of 'masclinity' just looks performed to me. When I wondered (and was then assessed and diagnosed) about Aspergers, I put it down to that - that I didn't pick up on the 'how to be male' cues.

I'll try a poll.

You don't seem to know what the word genetic means. It means passed down from your parents. Being trans is more of a birth defect, where as autism has been shown to be passed down from your parents. I really hope you understand it this time, I'll just come back with links to a dictionary next time if I have to.

I rest my case.

http://www.webmd.com/sex/gender-identity-disorder