Nevada GOP Governor Defies Party, Signs ‘Gender-Affirming’ Care Bill For Trans Youth, Adults
Nevada’s Republican Gov. Joe Lombardo has signed a bill requiring health insurers cover gender-affirming care for transgender minors and adults, bucking recent trends as other GOP-led states across the country advance anti-LGBTQ legislation.
The bill, SB163, mandates that health insurers, including Medicaid, cover all medically necessary gender-affirming treatments and eliminate exclusions that have historically been used to avoid paying for treatments classified as “cosmetic.” SB163 had passed on party-line votes out of the Legislature without a single Republican voting in its favor. “I think it’s a powerful symbol, actually, to have a Republican governor sign a bill like that,” Sen.
Dallas Harris (D-Las Vegas), one of the co-sponsors of the bill, told The Nevada Independent Monday night. “I’m thrilled.” “This bill goes a long ways toward clarifying access to medically necessary treatments for transgender people,” said transgender rights advocate Brooke Maylath in a phone call Tuesday.
Lombardo told reporters that all the bill does is mandate the insurance industry to continue following existing state policy.
