Suit Challenges Florida Medicaid's Exclusion of Gender-Affirming Care
LGBTQ+ and health groups filed a federal lawsuit Wednesday seeking to block Florida’s new rule excluding gender-affirming care from Medicaid coverage.Lambda Legal, Southern Legal Counsel, Florida Health Justice Project, and National Health Law Program, together with international law firm Pillsbury Winthrop Shaw Pittman LLP, filed the suit on behalf of four plaintiffs: August Dekker, Brit Rothstein, and two minors identified under pseudonyms, Susan (represented by her parents, Jane and John Doe) and K.F. (represented by his mother, Jade Ladue).The lawsuit, Dekker et al.
v. Marstiller et al., was filed in the U.S. District Court for the Northern District of Florida against the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration and its secretary, Simone Marstiller.The Florida AHCA’s rule went into effect August 21.
It denies Medicaid coverage for hormone treatment, puberty blockers, surgery, and other procedures to treat gender dysphoria, although these procedures are covered for treating other conditions.
Medicaid is a joint federal-state program, administered by each state, that pays for health care for people with low incomes.“This exclusion is discrimination, plain and simple, and is not permitted under the Constitution,” Carl Charles, senior attorney at Lambda Legal, said on a conference call Wednesday.
