Veterans Administration Makes Important Clarification on Records Policy

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Building on the June 2011 Directive on the treatment of transgender veterans, the Veterans Health Administration (VHA) has announced a clarification to its records policy that will make significant difference in the lives of trans veterans. Since the Directive has gone into effect, we have received positive reports from trans veterans about receiving more respectful health care. However, one area that the Directive left somewhat unclear was the documentation that was required for veterans to change the gender marker on their health records.

The Directive was very clear that medical records will now reflect an individual’s self-identified gender.  However, the policy also indicated that the individual must provide official documentation as per Veterans Health Administration policies in order to change the gender marker. This was initially interpreted incorrectly by some staff and facilities to require proof of sex reassignment surgery.

The VA has now clarified that this policy is intended to mirror the State Department passport policy. Effective immediately, to change the gender on VHA medical records, a vet must simply provide a letter from a physician certifying that the vet has changed genders and has had appropriate clinical treatment for gender transition. To be clear, the physician’s letter does not need to certify that some specific surgery or any particular medical procedure has been completed—only appropriate clinical care for the individual veteran as determined by the physician.

This clarification is another important step forward for trans veterans. At NCTE we’ve been very pleased to provide education and advocacy to the VA, which continues to be very interested in ensuring that transgender vets are treated equally. We’re confident that the VA will continue to move forward and are excited about some great upcoming programs the VA is planning to provide cultural competency training to clinical and administrative staff across the country.

In the coming weeks, NCTE will release a user-friendly guide to changing your VA health records. Until then, we urge trans vets to read our resources about the June 2011 VHA Directive and the passport policy and speak with a patient advocate or Social Worker at your VA facility if you have questions.

VHA Directive: http://transequality.org/PDFs/VHA_Trans_Health.pdf

Passport gender change policy: http://transequality.org/Resources/passports_2012.pdf

If you have difficulties changing you records at your local VA or have trouble accessing respectful healthcare, please contact NCTE immediately at NCTE@transequality.org or 202-903-0112.