A hearing is set for November over a law that blocks Medicaid coverage for some medical care for transgender Floridians

Share
Medicaid
Medicaid by designer491 via iStock for WMNF News

©2024 The News Service of Florida

A federal appeals court has rescheduled a hearing for November in a battle about whether Florida violated federal laws by blocking Medicaid coverage for transgender people seeking hormone therapy and puberty blockers.

The 11th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals on Friday issued a tentative schedule that said the hearing will be held the week of Nov. 18 in Atlanta.

The hearing had been tentatively scheduled for the week of Sept. 16, but the appeals court last month removed it from the schedule.

Lawyers for Gov. Ron DeSantis’ administration appealed in June 2023 after U.S. District Judge Robert Hinkle found that the prohibition on Medicaid coverage for hormone therapy and puberty blockers violated federal healthcare laws and the U.S. Constitution’s Equal Protection Clause.

The lawsuit was filed in 2022 on behalf of two transgender adults and the parents of two transgender minors after the state Agency for Health Care Administration adopted a rule that barred the coverage.

The lawsuit was later updated to include a new state law that similarly prevented coverage.

DeSantis and many other Republican leaders across the country have made a priority in recent years of trying to restrict treatments for transgender people with gender dysphoria.

The federal government defines gender dysphoria clinically as “significant distress that a person may feel when sex or gender assigned at birth is not the same as their identity.”

You may also like

$51 million park and stormwater project opens in Tampa

Listen: The City of Tampa cut the ribbon on a...

Leatherback Sea Turtle
Sea turtle nesting on Pinellas County beaches had good and bad news in 2024

Despite the 2024 hurricanes, conservationists found a leatherback sea turtle...

Obamacare ACA
Open enrollment for the Affordable Care Act’s health insurance marketplace is underway

Information on how navigators can help you choose the ACA...

The Scoop: Tues. Nov. 12th, 2024, Tampa Bay and Florida headlines by WMNF

A report reveals the housing struggle in Florida and the...

Ways to listen

WMNF is listener-supported. That means we don't advertise like a commercial station, and we're not part of a university.

Ways to support

WMNF volunteers have fun providing a variety of needed services to keep your community radio station alive and kickin'.

Follow us on Instagram

Dream Clinic
Player position: