Israel Will Cover 'Voice Surgery' for Transgender People

Biology can be a nuisance for transgender people. For instance, it is an inconvenient truth that biological males and females sound different, have different tones of voice.

Modern medicine can help with that, but it’s expensive. The State of Israel thinks its taxpayers should cover the cost.

The government committee that determines which medicines and medical procedures are in the “public health basket,” and therefore fully covered, decided this month to add voice-alteration surgery to the list.

Typically, elective surgeries are not covered by the state. But committee members in favor of the move argued that footing the bill “is our duty after the challenges they [transgender people] went through.”

Those opposed suggested that “perhaps this shouldn’t be a priority when we are cutting life-saving things like cancer treatment.”

Representatives of Israel’s LGBT community praised the decision, insisting that it would “save lives.”