A Rather Interesting Definition Of Equality

Lately there has been much discussion about what health insurance should cover and what it should not cover. Obamacare has added to that discussion by requiring that approved insurance policies cover pediatric dental care for single people or that single men have coverage for birth control. Yet many cancer patients and people with serious diseases have found that they are not fully covered. We have heard their stories.

I have previously posted stories about Robert, now Michelle, Kosilek (rightwinggranny.com and rightwinggranny.com), a convicted murderer currently serving prison time in Massachusetts. These stories have focused on Mr. Kosilek’s battle to force the Massachusetts taxpayers to pay for his sex-change operation so that he can spend his time in prison as Michelle Kosilek. The latest decision to come down from the Massachusetts court was that the taxpayers should also pay for Mr. Kosilek’s legal expenses in this case.

Now a taxpayer has gone to the courts claiming discrimination in this case. Today’s Boston Herald is reporting that Anita T. Phoenix, 59, a Cambridge transgender woman, has filed a federal lawsuit earlier this month claiming that Medicare and MassHealth discriminated against her because they would not pay for her transgender treatments.

The article reports:

State Sen. Bruce Tarr (R-Gloucester), who has supported the Department of Correction in the Kosilek fight, said the lawsuit shows the dangers of the controversial case.

“It will open the door not only to other law-abiding people to make that claim, but people who are incarcerated to seek other forms of surgery that they wouldn’t otherwise obtain,” said Tarr. “What we’re talking about here are extraordinary measures that most citizens can’t afford and wouldn’t undertake. If we set a precedent in allowing Kosilek to obtain this kind of surgery, what we’d essentially be doing is opening the door for all different types of surgeries that are extraordinary to become the subject of entitlement.”

In 2012, federal Judge Mark Wolf ruled the state must pay for Kosilek’s surgery. DOC is making preparations for the operation should a pending appeal fail.

It seems to me that Mr. Kosilek’s and Ms. Phoenix’s is, to some degree, elective surgery. Health insurance does not pay for face lifts or Lasik eye surgery because they are considered optional. When I had cataract surgery, the toric lens they implanted was not covered by my insurance–I had to pay for it–the insurance company would have paid for a lens that had no prescription, but that would have left me still paying for eyeglasses. Frankly, I am much more sympathetic to Ms. Phoenix’s cause than I am for Mr. Kosilek’s cause. It would be a travesty of justice if Mr. Kosilek, a convicted murderer, has access to free health care that Ms. Phoenix, an average taxpayer, is not able to access freely under her health insurance.

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You Can Qualify For Free Optional Surgery By Murdering Your Wife

In May of 1990 Robert Kosilek murdered his wife. He left her body in her car parked at Emerald Square Mall in North Attleboro, Massachusetts. He was convicted of the murder and sentenced to life in prison without possibility of parole (Massachusetts does not allow the death penalty).

Since his incarceration, Mr. Kosilek has been claiming that it is his Constitutional right to have the Massachusetts taxpayers pay for the cost of his sex-change operation. While I sympathize with Mr. Kosilek’s desire to have the surgery, I question the fact that the Massachusetts taxpayer should pay the bill. Unfortunately, a federal judge has taken the opposite view.

The Blaze reported today:

A federal appeals court on Friday upheld a ruling that said the state must provide a taxpayer-funded sex change for a convicted Massachusetts murderer as part of the individual’s constitutional rights.

In a 2-1 ruling, the court noted that the U.S. Supreme Court has ruled courts “must not shrink from their obligation to enforce the constitutional rights of all persons, including prisoners,” according to the Boston Globe.

The article further reports:

Kosilek was named “Robert” when convicted of murdering his wife, Cheryl McCaul, in 1990, the Associated Press reported. After prison officials declined to provide a sex reassignment surgery, Kosilek sued the Department of Correction and a federal judge later ruled in 2012 the surgery was the “only adequate treatment” for the gender identity disorder Kosilek purportedly suffered from.

This man is a convicted murderer. Wouldn’t it make more sense to put him in a facility for dangerous criminals and forget about paying for the surgery?

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Adding Insult To Injury

On September 4th I posted a story about the Massachusetts taxpayers being required to pay for a sex change operation for Robert, now Michelle, Kosilek, who murdered his wife in 1990.

Today the Boston Herald reported that U.S. District Court Chief Judge Mark L. Wolf has ruled that the taxpayers of Massachusetts should also reimburse Michelle Lynne Kosilek for years of legal bills.

The article concludes:

Kosilek has survived two suicide attempts and has threatened to castrate himself over his gender distress, according to Wolf, who ruled that sex-reassignment surgery was the only remedy for Kosilek’s “serious medical need.”

It was not immediately clear how far back Kosilek’s lawyers are eligible to recover costs and fees. He has been suing the DOC for surgery since 2000.

I am sorry that Michelle Kosilek is so emotionally messed up. I am sorry that he killed his wife in cold blood, but it seems as if things are getting a little out of hand here. A person in the private sector would have to pay for this surgery themselves, why in the world are the taxpayers paying for the surgery and the court costs?

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As A Non-Prisoner I Would Have To Pay For This Myself !

WCVB in Boston reported today that a Massachusetts Judge has declared that the Massachusetts taxpayers must pay for sex change surgery for Michelle Kosilek (formerly Robert Kosilek). Michael Kosilek killed his wife in 1990 and was sentenced to life in prison.

The article reports:

Kosilek first sued the Massachusetts Department of Correction 12 years ago. Two years later, Wolf ruled that Kosilek was entitled to treatment for gender-identity disorder but stopped short of ordering surgery. Kosilek sued again in 2005, arguing that the surgery is a medical necessity.

In his 126-page ruling Tuesday, Wolf found that surgery is the “only adequate treatment” for Kosilek and that “there is no less intrusive means to correct the prolonged violation of Kosilek’s Eighth Amendment right to adequate medical care.”

Prison officials have repeatedly cited security risks in the case, saying that allowing Kosilek to have the surgery would make her a target for sexual assaults by other inmates.

But Wolf, who was appointed to the federal bench by President Ronald Reagan in 1985, found that the security concerns are “either pretextual or can be dealt with.” He said it would be up to prison officials to decide how and where to house Kosilek after the surgery.

I can see the next step coming. Kosilek will sue after the surgery to be put in a separate unit because he feels threatened.

I think the thing that bothers me the most about this is that if Kosilek were any place other than jail, he would be expected to find a way to pay for the surgery himself. Because he is currently living at taxpayers’ expense (don’t forget that he is in jail because he killed his wife), the surgery is free to him. This passed ridiculous a long time ago.

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