EQUAL! Request for Proper Medical Care for Transsexual Employees

In the spirit of openness and fairness to all Lucent employees that has
recently been expressed by the much appreciated inclusion of "gender
identity, characteristics, or expression" in our EO nondiscrimination
policy, we request that Lucent remove the discriminatory exclusion of
"sex reassignment and treatment leading to it" from our medical plans,
thus extending proper medical coverage to its transsexual employees.
This offering would mean full and equal coverage for their medical
needs, and would cost Lucent almost nothing.

Transsexual employees are those employees who require a procedure
called Sex Reassignment Surgery (SRS) in order to live a normal life.
These people were born with the body of one sex, but a firmly held
internal gender identity of the opposite sex.  Both male-to-female
(MtF) and female-to-male (FtM) transsexuals exist, and both require
treatment.  Many transsexuals are suicidal unless they are properly
treated.

The medical community has long ago adopted a standard diagnosis
("Gender Identity Disorder") and treatment for transsexuals, governed
by a formal standard called the Harry Benjamin Standards of Care
(SOC.)  The SOC are designed very conservatively, to ensure that only
true transsexuals are considered for medical intervention.  Many
individuals who believe they might be transsexuals are screened out by
the SOC.  Only those who truly require SRS in order to live a normal
life are approved for treatment.  In addition, a series of careful
steps is taken, over a period of at least a full year (and usually
several years) to ensure that the individual is a true transsexual, and
that he or she adjusts well to the new role.

SRS is often on the list of exclusions in medical plans.  Lucent's
medical plan is no exception, as it excludes SRS and other required
treatments (generally, hormone replacement therapy (HRT), the same
treatment often used for the treatment of menopause.) There is no
medical reason for this exclusion, but rather the exclusion is rooted
in the bigotry of the past.  Lucent, as a forward looking company
committed to equal treatment of employees, cannot afford to prepetuate
such bigotry.

Only about 1 in 30,000 individuals is transsexual.  For a company the
size of Lucent, we can expect that we have about 4 transsexual
employees.  Indeed, according to the Summary Annual Benefits sent to
employees in December, 1999, in plan year 1998, there were 112,201
people covered by our Management and Occupational health plans.  There
are currently 4 known transsexuals in Lucent at various stages of the
transition process.

The lifetime medical cost for SRS, HRT, and related care averages only
about $25,000 per transsexual.  If the average employment is estimated
at 5 years, and four transsexuals are somewhere in the process at any
given time, Lucent would spend a total of about $20,000 per year.

Lucent spent $446,311,000 in 1998 on medical care.  Providing medical
coverage to our four transsexuals would increase our total expendatures
to $446,331,000.  This amount is about 18 cents per year for each
covered person, or an increase of .00448%.  It is less than 10% of the
investment income our insurance plan earns.

Two objections that have been raised in the past are that SRS is
experimental, or that it is cosmetic, or that it is a choice.
None of these is true.

The first SRS was performed in 1952 on Christine Jorgenson.  In the
years that followed, the technique was refined and perfected.  SRS is
now routine, widely taught, and available from many surgeons in the US
and abroad.  It has not been experimental for many years.

SRS is also not cosmetic.  Indeed, successful completion of surgery is
required in order to change certain legal documents, such as the birth
certificate, and drivers license, that will allow basic human rights
like marriage and the safe and legal use of public restrooms.

Jessica Xavier, a transgendered woman, explains what the desire to
start the transition process is like: "It becomes this force that
builds in you and you can't live without it anymore. Most of us look at
it as life and death. After all, if it were a choice, who would choose
to face universal disapproval and discrimination?"

Lucent Technologies contracts with several health care providers, such
as CIGNA, for MEP and POS medical plans.  The companies suggest a
"standard" set of coverages and exclusions to Lucent.  Lucent then
specifies what coverages and exclusions it is willing to pay for, and
those become the contracted conditions.  We urge Lucent to require our
MEP and POS medical providers to delete transsexualism and its
associated procedures and medications from their exclusion list, and to
cover this basic and often lifesaving care for its employees.

Respectfully,

	The leadership of EQUAL! at Lucent Technologies