Swiss ordered to reimburse cost of gender reassignment surgery

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The European Court of Human Rights has ruled that a 72-year old transsexual will be reimbursed after her country’s health insurance refused to pay the cost of her gender reassignment treatment.

Nadine Sclumpf, from Switzerland, was awarded 15,000 euros (£13,400).

The court ruled that her human rights had been violated when Switzerland’s Federal Insurance Court dropped her case against SWICA medical insurance for not paying for her treatment.

Ms Sclumpf was known as Max until she had gender reassignment surgery in 2004, aged 67.

She waited until her wife had died of cancer in 2002 and her children had grown up before proceeding with the treatment.

SWICA medical insurance had initially refused to reimburse the cost of the treatment because Ms Sclumpf had the operation before the end of the two year “observation” period set by the high court in 1988.

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