LGBTQ orgs sue to block Florida’s ban on transgender Medicaid coverage

“This ban will impact so many transgender Medicaid beneficiaries like me with very negative effects on our physical and mental health and our lives,” one transgender Floridian said.

Coverage for transgender health care by Medicaid in each US state.
Photo: Wikimedia Commons

Four LGBTQ and health advocacy organizations are challenging Florida’s recently enacted rule banning healthcare providers from billing the state’s Medicaid program for gender-affirming care. Under the new rule, which took effect on August 21, puberty blockers, hormone therapies, and surgical procedures for the treatment of gender dysphoria are not covered for patients of any age.

Lambda Legal, Southern Legal Counsel, Florida Health Justice Project, and National Health Law Program filed a federal lawsuit earlier this week on behalf of four transgender people challenging the rule recently adopted by the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA), which oversees Florida’s Medicaid Program.

“Ignoring thousands of public comments and expert testimony, Florida’s AHCA has finalized a rule that will deny Medicaid coverage for all medically necessary gender-affirming care for both youth and adults,” the groups said in a statement released last month, adding that the rule would put “transgender people in jeopardy of…

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