Final Hearing In Intersex Discrimination Case Against Unive

I received a letter from the Human Rights Institute (College voor de Rechten van de Mens) this week informing me that I'm obligated to appear at the next and apparently final hearing in the intersex discrimination case against my former Dutch health insurance company, Univé. This regarding Univé's decision to not fully cover a therapy for me which they fully cover for transsexuals. Their reason for doing so was that supposedly the Dutch Minister of Health as well as the central health insurance organization CVZ have only specified full coverage for the latter group and not intersex individuals. During the discovery phase the past months it turned out that this was not the case. CVZ has made it clear that this therapy coverage can also apply to intersex individuals.

The hearing itself is on the 25th of March, at 11.00 AM at the Institute's office in Utrecht (Kleinesingel 1-3) and is open to the public. This means that I will have to travel to Utrecht on the 24th and spend the night somewhere as the trip from Karlsruhe takes about 6 hours, which would force me to board an ICE around 3 AM to make it to Utrecht in time. I'm still sorting out the logistics of how and where I'll stay. Any help with this would be most welcome. Somewhere in Utrecht would be the most practical, I'd imagine.

This will also be my first time back in the Netherlands after migrating to Germany in December last year. To me it brings back many painful memories and feelings, both positive and negative. It reminds me of how much I miss the Netherlands in some ways, but also of why I had to leave it. Dealing with these contradictory feelings combined with my PTSD and having to organize the logistics of the whole trip is putting me pretty much at the limits of what I can take emotionally.

At the end of the hearing on the 25th it will be announced when the Institute will pronounce their official conclusion in this case. Though they can not enforce Univé to do anything, it would nevertheless set a strong precedent for any future legal case, whether by myself or others. I do not think that there is a reasonable chance that I will see back the around six-thousand Euros I should have received back with full coverage, but it is something which has to be done nevertheless. Justice is more important than anything else.


Maya