Wisconsin Department of Health Services – Photo: Facebook.
Wisconsin has restored coverage for gender confirmation surgery for the state’s transgender employees.
The state’s Group Insurance Board voted 5-4 on Wednesday to cover transition-related treatments for people who have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria. The surgeries will start being covered starting Jan. 1, reports the Associated Press.
“What we’re talking about is the improved health and well-being of our members for no cost,” board member Herschel Day, an associate professor at the University of Wisconsin-Eau Claire, said. Day added that providing the coverage shouldn’t impact premiums.
The board had previously approved coverage for gender confirmation surgery in 2016, but rescinded its decision in 2017 after receiving political pressure from Republican Gov. Scott Walker, a longtime opponent of LGBTQ rights.
Last year, a state consultant claimed that providing the coverage or other transition-related treatments would cost about $100,000 to $250,000 annually, assuming that two to five individuals were to pursue the surgery.
According to the AP, UnitedHealthcare, which is starting a Medicare Advantage program for state workers and retirees, agreed with the decision to cover the surgery. The company told the board that the state’s refusal to cover such procedures would cause the company to be out of compliance with federal Medicare rules.
Last year, the state was sued by the American Civil Liberties Union of Wisconsin on behalf of two transgender employees at the University of Wisconsin-Madison, who complained after they were denied coverage for surgical costs, even though their doctors had confirmed that the surgery was considered medically necessary.
One of the plaintiffs, Alina Boyden, was forced to forego gender confirmation surgery, while the second, Shannon Andrews, was forced to pay $21,000 in out-of-pocket expenses. Both women claimed that the denial of coverage violated their rights under the Equal Protection Clause of the Fourteenth Amendment, and under several other federal laws prohibiting discrimination based on sex.
Last month, a federal judge ruled, in a case brought by two other state residents, that Wisconsin also can’t ban Medicaid funds from being used to pay for gender confirmation surgery.
Recently released data from a national survey of transgender and nonbinary individuals reveals that detransitioning is not as common as opponents of transgender rights assert, and that the overwhelming reason for detransitioning is rooted in social stigma and lack of support.
Recently released data from a national survey of transgender and nonbinary individuals finds that detransitioning is far less common than anti-trans activists claim. When it does happen, it’s largely due to external pressures like stigma and lack of support, not regret over transitioning.
Morgan Armstrong recently announced on Instagram and Facebook that she is gay. She wrote that she was in a relationship and posted photos of herself with her girlfriend -- including one depicting the pair kissing. The caption read, "Cat's out of the bag."
Now her high school, the Tennessee Christian Preparatory School in Cleveland, Tennessee, has suspended the 18-year-old and is withholding her diploma and not allowing her to graduate.
A star basketball player for Tennessee Christian, Armstrong said she was nervous about how the news would be received, especially by relatives or other followers who oppose homosexuality.
A transgender woman swimmer in the United Kingdom recently competed topless at a Masters event, protesting a policy that requires her to compete based on her assigned sex at birth.
Seeking to highlight flaws in the one-size-fits-all ban on transgender competitors, Anne Isabella Coombes, 67, of Reading, chose to wear a men’s swimsuit while competing -- exposing her breasts in the process.
Coombes, a member of the Reading Swimming Club for 30 years, transitioned five years ago, during the COVID-19 pandemic. When public swim meets resumed, she applied to Swim England -- the national governing body of aquatic sports -- asking to compete as a female, reports the Reading Chronicle.
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