FAQ: Transgender Health at MIT Medical

The chart below is intended to provide general information on services that are covered by health insurance. Note that certain covered services require an initial out-of-pocket payment that is later reimbursed. For complete details, see Gender Affirming Services [PDF] from Blue Cross Blue Shield of Massachusetts. Students may contact the MIT Student Insurance Office at stuplan@med.mit.edu and employees may contact MIT Benefits at benefits@mit.edu or call 617-253-6151 for more information.

Yes. But medical records at MIT Medical depend on information provided by outside sources—the registrar’s office for students and MIT Human Resources for employees and covered family members. We cannot change the name or gender in a patient’s medical record until it is changed at the original source. 

MIT Medical will not release information about your medical care or laboratory testing to anyone without your written consent, including parents or other family members. However, your insurance company will send you an explanation of benefits, which may include some of that information. Even though it will be addressed to you, it will be sent to the mailing address associated with your insurance plan, which might be your parents’ home address or the address of another family member. If you want these documents sent to a different address, you need to make sure that the insurance company has your preferred mailing address on file. For more information about the specific documents your insurance company sends out and where they will be sent, call the insurance company’s billing department.

In addition to routine primary care, certain clinicians at MIT Medical offer the following specialized services for transgender patients:

• Medical treatment for gender affirmation and associated monitoring
• Mental health counseling for undergraduate and graduate students with concerns around gender identity and/or gender dysphoria
• Mental health counseling for faculty, staff, postdocs – and families with concerns around gender identity and/or gender dysphoria are available through MIT’s MyLife Services.
• Mental Health and Primary Care consultation for supportive documentation and referral for surgical treatment; as required by insurance plans and accepted standards of care 
• Supporting documentation for name and gender marker changes as designated by state and federal standards