Judge Nixes Wisconsin Medicaid Ban for Sex Reassignments
(Worthy News) – A federal judge ruled Friday that Wisconsin cannot deny Medicaid coverage for sex-reassignment surgeries and other hormonal procedures, finding they are medically accepted and effective treatments.
The lawsuit against the Wisconsin Department of Health Services, or DHS, was filed by Cody Flack of Green Bay and Sara Ann Makenzie of Baraboo back in April 2018. The plaintiffs challenged a 1997 amendment to state Medicaid regulations that excluded coverage for “drugs, including hormone therapy, associated with transsexual surgery,” deeming them “medically unnecessary.”
Flack, a transgender man, and Makenzie, a transgender woman, both suffer from severe gender dysphoria. They argued that the exclusion violates the Affordable Care Act, the Medicaid Act and the due process and equal protection clauses of the 14th Amendment. [ Source: Courthouse News (Read More…) ]