Thread by @MegEBrock

🧵There are no insurance codes for detransitioners and it’s a huge deal.

Data collection about the healthcare needs of detransitioners is severely impaired because there are no diagnostic or procedural medical billing codes to describe them or their care.

https://twitter.com/benshapiro/status/1961454260001886596

Medical billing codes, sometimes called the language of healthcare, include International Classification of Diseases(ICD) codes and Current Procedural Terminology (CPT) codes.

ICD codes are published by the World Health Organization and provide comprehensive diagnostic codes for diseases and injuries.

CPT codes, which are owned and copyrighted by the American Medical Association (who receive royalty payments for their use), describe procedures and medical services.

The use of these codes creates a valuable dataset used in medical research to create standards of care and develop evidence-based practices.

For example, a JAMA study used ICD codes to illustrate a sharp increase in sex reassignment surgery between 2016 to 2019. The researchers identified the data by locating the ICD codes for Gender Identity Disorders.

However, one could not replicate a similar search for detransitioners because there are no ICD codes to describe their care.

I wrote about this in Feb 2024:

dailycaller.com/2024/02/28/med…

While there are medical billing codes for “history of sex reassignment surgery” and “transexualism,” there are no codes for detransitioners, and physicians treating detransitioners are forced to record medical encounters under billing codes for other diagnoses.

Dr. Carrie Mendoza told the DCNF that until the needed billing codes are created, researchers lack reliable way to collect data on the growing cohort of detransitioners.

“Without proper documentation for the growing cohort of new patients, the healthcare system cannot properly document their medical issues, accurately bill for services, or conduct proper research into best practices for all suffering from gender dysphoria,” said Mendoza.

You can read the story here: dailycaller.com/2024/02/28/med…