The Department of Veterans Affairs (VA)
has withdrawn a proposed rule change that would have allowed
transgender veterans to receive sex reassignment surgeries through
the VA.
According
to Military.com, the proposed rule change was scrapped over lack
of funding.
“VA has been and will continue to
explore a regulatory change that would allow VA to perform gender
alteration surgery and a change in the medical benefits package, when
appropriate funding is available,” the department said in a
statement given to Military.com. “Therefore, this regulation will
be withdrawn from the Fall 2016 Unified Agenda.”
Officials said that the department
would continue covering hormone therapy, mental health care and pre-
and post sex reassignment surgery care for transgender veterans.
The Department of Defense in June
lifted its ban on transgender troops serving openly.
Ashley Broadway-Mack, president of The
American Military Partner Association (AMPA), called the news “a
deeply disappointing setback in making sure an often medically
necessary procedure for transgender veterans is part of that care.”
“All of our nation's veterans,
regardless of their gender identity, deserve access to the medical
care they earned serving our nation,” she added.