Cass Smith-Collins jumped through hoops to get the surgery that would match his chest to his gender.
Living in Las Vegas and then 50, he finally felt safe enough to come out as a transgender man. He had his wife’s support and a doctor’s letter showing he had a long history of gender dysphoria, the psychological distress felt when one’s sex assigned at birth and gender identity don’t match.
Although in-network providers were available, Smith-Collins selected Florida-based surgeon Charles Garramone, who markets himself as an early developer of female-to-male top surgery and says that he does not contract with insurance. Smith-Collins said he was willing to pay more to go out-of-network.
“I had one shot to get the chest that I should have been born with, and I wasn’t going to chance it to someone who was not an expert at his craft,” he said.
Smith-Collins arranged to spend a week in Florida and contacted friends there who could help him recover from the outpatient procedure, he said.
Garramone’s practice required that the patient agree to its financial policies, according to documents shared by Smith-Collins. One document stated that “full payment” of Garramone’s surgical fees is required four weeks in advance of surgery and that all payments to the practice …
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Cass Smith-Collins jumped through hoops to get the surgery that would match his chest to his gender.
Living in Las Vegas and then 50, he finally felt safe enough to come out as a transgender man. He had his wife’s support and a doctor’s letter showing he had a long history of gender dysphoria, the psychological distress felt when one’s sex assigned at birth and gender identity don’t match.
Although in-network providers were available, Smith-Collins selected Florida-based surgeon Charles Garramone, who markets himself as an early developer of female-to-male top surgery and says that he does not contract with insurance. Smith-Collins said he was willing to pay more to go out-of-network.
“I had one shot to get the chest that I should have been born with, and I wasn’t going to chance it to someone who was not an expert at his craft,” he said.
Smith-Collins arranged to spend a week in Florida and contacted friends there who could help him recover from the outpatient procedure, he said.
Garramone’s practice required that the patient agree to its financial policies, according to documents shared by Smith-Collins. One document stated that “full payment” of Garramone’s surgical fees is required four weeks in advance of surgery and that all payments to the practice …nnDiscussion:nn” ai_name=”RocketNews AI: ” start_sentence=”Can I tell you more about this article?” text_input_placeholder=”Type ‘Yes'”]