California Attorney General Rob Bonta is leading several Democratic-led states in a fight against Florida’s newly enacted rule that prevents health care providers from billing the state’s Medicaid program for transition surgeries and puberty blockers for kids and adults.
Last August, Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) added new language to Medicaid program rules stating that it would not cover services for the treatment of gender dysphoria, including sex reassignment surgery, puberty blockers or hormone therapies.
AHCA decided those services were “not consistent with generally accepted professional medical standards and are experimental and investigational with the potential for harmful long-term effects.”
The rule took effect Aug. 21, 2022, and was immediately met with a lawsuit from LGBTQ rights groups. This week, Bonta, a Democrat, weighed in on the court case in a briefing filed with other states.
FLORIDA BANS MEDICAID USE ON GENDER-AFFIRMING TREATMENTS
“Plain and simple: Gender-affirming care is health care,” Bonta said a statement Monday.
“The Florida rule targets a vulnerable population seeking health care benefits that they are eligible for under federal law. Transgender Americans, like all Americans, are entitled to access to medically necessary care. I join my fellow attorneys general to ensure transgender rights to health care are protected and fully available. California will not back down in the face of discrimination, wherever it occurs.”
The amicus brief filed by the blue state top cops argued the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida should reject the Florida rule that categorically excludes Medicaid health care services to people who are diagnosed with gender dysphoria.
FEDERAL JUDGE ORDERS FLORIDA AGENCY PROVIDE PROOF TO SUPPORT MEDICAID BAN ON GENDER AFFIRMING CARE
The AGs argue that “discrimination against transgender people causes tangible economic, emotional and health consequences.”
Bonta was joined by the…
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