🧵1/ BREAKING: The largest “trans healthcare” providers in the U.S. are rubber-stamping letters approving gruesome, life-altering surgeries. It’s such a racket that my producer was approved for testicle removal in #22minutes. The tape is disturbing.
2/ First, some background. Ari Groner is a licensed clinical social worker who educates doctors on “trans healthcare.” At a recent training session for the Juniper Center, Groner explained that she writes whatever letters her patients want, because she’s not a “gatekeeper.”
3/ Groner was referring to the WPATH standards, which major hospitals follow. They require that trans patients obtain a letter before undergoing surgeries. But Groner tells her audience to treat the letters as a “persuasive essay," and to green-light even suicidal patients.
4/ Groner explains that insurance companies won't pay for these surgeries unless the patient is diagnosed with gender dysphoria. So, she says healthcare workers should provide the diagnosis. “We're using that diagnosis,” she says, “to ensure clients get that necessary treatment."
5/ Whatever insurance companies might think of that, it's the industry standard. The popular trans telehealth service @folxhealth, for example, instructs patients that even if they don't "fit" the definition of gender dysphoria, the diagnosis is “needed” so that insurers pay out.
6/ Folx, which provides letters authorizing surgeries for a nominal fee, goes on to admit that “it’s quite possible” patients will receive a letter indicating a gender dysphoria diagnosis, even though they “really do not have dysphoria.”
7/ We reached out to Folx about this. A staff member confirmed that a "diagnosis" of gender dysphoria -- with the word "diagnosis" in scare quotes -- is a “requirement” for insurance purposes, even if it “doesn’t apply.”
8/ The largest trans healthcare provider in the U.S., @plume_clinic, runs a similar scam. They sell letters for $150 authorizing surgeries. That's how our producer @gregg_re received approval for testicle removal after a 22-minute video call.
9/ In his intake form with Plume, Gregg provided a fake legal name. He said he had dysphoria in the past. But he stated he had never experienced it for six months or more. Under the current version of the DSM-5, that means he doesn’t have gender dysphoria.
10/ Plume quickly scheduled Gregg for a video interview anyway. He assumed the identity "Chelsea Bussey.” He didn’t even attempt to pass. He badly mispronounced the name of the surgery he wanted. He made it clear he didn't know what effect the surgery would have.
11/ Nevertheless, Plume’s nurse practitioner said she wanted to write the most "solid" letter possible to justify surgery. Gregg tells her that he once wrote an essay in school about being a woman, which everyone thought was ridiculous.
12/ Gregg also tells Plume’s nurse practitioner that his father has been prescribing him hormones for years. The nurse doesn’t question this in any way. Instead, she says that arrangement is “perfect.”
13/ Three days later, Plume sent this letter to "Chelsea Bussey” – who does not exist -- saying he was experiencing "significant, ongoing gender dysphoria.” The letter strongly recommended “Chelsea” for testicle removal.
14/ The letter keeps capitalizing "Orchiectomy,” without "an" before it, as if it's just been copy-pasted into a template. Gregg followed up to learn why he had been diagnosed with gender dysphoria. Plume admitted they just use letter templates provided by WPATH.
15/ Later, Plume’s nurse practitioner confirmed that "in order for the surgery to be paid for," the dysphoria diagnosis would need to remain. At the same time, the nurse appeared confused as to why “Chelsea Bussey” had requested testicle removal in the first place.
16/ This scam is the cutting-edge of “trans healthcare.” After launching just a couple of years ago, Plume now operates in 41 states. Folx is in 47 states. How is it possible they’ve expanded so quickly?
17/ The answer is that there’s big money behind this. Plume and Folx raised more than $45 million last year. @craft_ventures just led Plume's $14 million fundraising round. Is @DavidSacks aware this is going on? Are @transformcptl, @generalcatalyst, @slow, or @townhallvntrs?
18/ Insurance companies like @Aetna, @UnitedHealthGrp, and @Cigna work with Plume. Do they know they’re paying for surgeries based on obviously false information?
19/ Some states have restricted this kind of 'medicine.' Florida, for example, recently passed a law banning most trans telehealth services. Trans activists (and the Associated Press @AP) have complained that this law is 'onerous.'
20/ They’re furious because they know the “gender transition” industry is corrupt and fraudulent from the ground up. Protecting kids is just one piece of the puzzle. The fight begins there, but it doesn't end there. The whole industry needs to be shut down.
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