new tennessee bill It makes for an interstate healthcare nightmare. When an insurance company covers gender-affirming medical care in another state, such as hormone therapy in New York or breast reduction surgery in Illinois, it cuts off the 1.7 million Tennessees who participate in the state’s Medicaid program. there is a possibility.
invoice, HB1215, is just one of several recent efforts by lawmakers to target insurance when used in gender-affirming care. Florida, Wyoming, Kentucky and Arkansas have introduced bills that will hurt doctors, employers and patients who rely on longstanding insurance programs.
“This attempt to limit health insurance has a negative impact on health care providers and corporate health plans in particular. [cost] Shelby Chestnut, executive director of the Transgender Law Center, told the Daily Beast. .
Tennessee’s HB1215 was introduced in early February. Under the bill, Tennessee’s Medicaid program, TennCare, will no longer contract with providers to cover gender-affirming care, even if the treatment is performed out of state.
“We also see a number of bills that prevent public funding of any kind, such as Medicaid, and public facilities, such as doctors and hospitals, from being used to provide gender-affirming care.” told the Associated Press Shortly after the bill was announced.
one week Before Tennessee’s bill was introduced, the Wyoming Senate passed its own bill banning physicians from providing gender-confirming care to minors, including temporary treatments such as hormone-blocking drugs. If passed, the bill would suspend or revoke the licenses of doctors who performed these treatments. It also prohibits insurance companies from covering gender verification procedures for minors.
Bills in Tennessee and Wyoming are in the midst of anti-LGBTQ bills. Over 300 such bills It was installed in the state capitol this year, according to the Human Rights Campaign. About 150 of these bills limit the rights of transgender people.
medical professionals Overwhelmingly recommended Gender-affirming care for transgender youth.a 2020 research Among 11,914 transgender and nonbinary people in their teens and early twenties, we found significant reductions in depression and suicide attempts among youth who received gender-affirming care.
Nevertheless, lawmakers have used concerns about transgender youth as part of a larger broadside against gender-affirming care for people of all ages.
“I think it’s an all-out scare tactic,” Chestnut said. “It worries me how much more lawmakers are willing to commit crimes, not just young people, their parents and health care providers.”
one new billIntroduced in Kentucky on Tuesday, it is nominally about blocking youth from gender-affirming and mental health care. Teachers warn parents if kids use new pronouns But it also lays the groundwork for a broader attack on insurance against transgender people in the state.
The bill “establishes liability provisions when an insurance company chooses to cover gender transition services,” and changes Kentucky law to “provide a fully insured benefit plan or self-insured plan for public employees to persons under the age of 18.” Prohibit covering gender transition services”. Year.
Health care providers are also required to report anyone providing gender-verifying care to a minor or facing criminal liability. The bill is being considered quickly in the Kentucky Legislature. Louisville Courier-Journal report.
The Kentucky bill language on liability arose in an interstate effort to make gender-affirming healthcare risky for physicians. A new Arkansas bill would allow people who received gender-confirming care as minors to sue their doctors for malpractice until age 48. It makes it difficult to get your own insurance. The Associated Press reported.
Meanwhile, in Florida, lawmakers have drafted legislation to hold employers accountable for costly disputes over gender-affirming care. On Monday, the Florida Senate issued a “treatment to reverse gender dysphoria treatment” for employers to pay for gender reassurance care if a patient later desires it, regardless of whether the patient is still an employee. submitted a bill requiring payment to
The bill’s sponsor, Senator Blaise Ingoria, said, “Woke up companies need to be held accountable when they offer to pay for gender reassignment surgeries in other states, such as California, because: They are just political decisions masquerading as medical or personnel decisions,” said Senator Blaise Ingoria, the bill’s sponsor. announced in a statement.
Florida has banned state Medicaid coverage of gender-affirming care in 2022.
Citing the strain COVID-19 has placed on doctors, Chestnut said, “The entire healthcare sector is currently collapsing.” Criminalization of parents, health care providers – now they are coming to insurance.
“It just makes it much less safe for people to go to the doctor.”
