A federal judge ruled that Premera Blue Cross discriminated against two transgender teens by denying them coverage for top surgery, thus violating the Affordable Care Act. The judge's ruling highlighted that the insurance policy discriminated on the basis of sex by not covering procedures like mastectomy for trans minors while providing coverage for cisgender youth. Lambda Legal, which represented the teens, described the ruling as a significant victory against discriminatory health practices. Age discrimination claims were not upheld, but the ruling sets a precedent for healthcare equality for transgender individuals.
The court determined in no uncertain terms that Premera Blue Cross's policy categorically denying safe, evidence-based, and effective health care for the treatment of gender dysphoria to transgender adolescents under 18 is discriminatory and unlawful.
If a health insurer covers a medical treatment for cisgender minors, and Premera does, then it cannot exclude all coverage of the same medical treatment for transgender minors.
Collection
[
|
...
]