LGBTQ AND HEALTH GROUPS DENOUNCE FLORIDA’S ADOPTION OF ANTI-TRANSGENDER HEALTH CARE RULE
(Tallahassee, FL -- August 11) Southern Legal Counsel, Florida Health Justice Project, Lambda Legal, and National Health Law Program issued the following statement yesterday in response to the adoption of an anti-transgender healthcare rule by the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA), which oversees Florida’s Medicaid Program, that will deny Medicaid coverage for all medically necessary gender-affirming care for both youth and adults:
“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. This discriminatory and medically unsound rule will take effect on August 21, 2022, putting transgender people in jeopardy of losing access to critical gender-affirming health care services.
“AHCA’s actions, at the behest of Governor DeSantis and his political appointees, are morally and legally wrong as well as medically and scientifically unsound. This rule represents a dangerous escalation in Governor DeSantis’s political zeal to persecute LGBTQ+ people in Florida, and particularly transgender youth. Lambda Legal, Southern Legal Counsel, Florida Health Justice Project, and National Health Law Program denounce Florida’s cruel effort to strip transgender Floridians on Medicaid of the ability to access essential, medically necessary, and often lifesaving medical care.
We will fight this rule and defend the rights of transgender people in Florida in whatever forum necessary to protect their rights to access health care coverage that is readily available to other participants in Florida’s Medicaid program. The lives, health, and wellbeing of transgender Floridians are at stake, and we stand ready to vindicate their rights.
“Any transgender person, who is a Medicaid participant in Florida and is at risk of losing Medicaid coverage for their gender-affirming health care should:
Share their story at www.protectFLtranshealth.org or:
Reach out to:
Southern Legal Counsel at simone.chriss@southernlegal.org or;
Florida Health Justice Project at debriere@floridahealthjustice.org; or
Lambda Legal’s Help Desk https://www.lambdalegal.org/helpdesk."
IMPORTANT CLARIFICATION ABOUT THE DIFFERENCE BETWEEN THE MEDICAID RULE AND THE ACTIONS TAKEN BY THE FLORIDA BOARD OF MEDICINE:
In an effort to provide clarity in this highly confusing area, we will explain the two parallel tracks through which the State of Florida is seeking to restrict access to medically necessary-gender affirming care.
(1) Medicaid. The first effort is the newly adopted rule referenced above, through which the Agency for Healthcare Administration (AHCA) has banned coverage of treatment for gender dysphoria under the Florida Medicaid Program. This impacts only transgender individuals who receive their health insurance through Medicaid. This rule goes into effect on August 21, 2022, and SLC is prepared to fight this rule in whatever forum necessary to protect the rights of our transgender clients to access medically necessary, safe, effective, and life-affirming healthcare. If you have questions about the new Medicaid rule or you stand to be impacted by the rule, contact Simone Chriss at simone.chriss@southernlegal.org.
(2) Florida Board of Medicine. The second effort is the initiation of the rulemaking process by the Florida Board of Medicine ("the Board"), based on a request from the Florida Department of Health (DOH) to "establish a standard of care" for the treatment of gender dysphoria in Florida. On August 5th, 2022, despite pleas from community members, experts, and medical providers asking the Board not to move forward with rulemaking because there already exist evidence-based national standards of care for gender dysphoria, the Board voted to proceed with this unnecessary charade. It is important to understand that the language proposed by the DOH, which would create a categorical prohibition on doctors providing gender-affirming care to minors and would require "informed consent" and a 24 hour waiting period for transgender adults, is simply suggested language and has no binding effect, weight, or authority at this time. The Board has committed to reviewing the evidence and conferring with providers who are actual experts in the treatment of gender dysphoria before adopting any standard regarding gender-affirming care. We plan to hold the Board accountable to that promise. At this time, no changes have been adopted and physicians are free to continue providing evidence-based, medically necessary gender-affirming care to their transgender patients in Florida. We urge the Board of Medicine to follow the science and the overwhelming consensus of the medical community, including every major medical association in our country, in following the WPATH Standards of Care for treatment of gender dysphoria. We will continue to keep the community updated on the rulemaking process, including the scheduling of any Rulemaking Workshops, Public Comment submission periods, and Public Hearings on any proposed rule from the Florida Board of Medicine.