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The board had previously approved coverage for gender confirmation surgery in 2016, but rescinded its decision in 2017 after receiving political pressure from Republican Gov.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.
A transgender couple faces criminal charges after being beaten by a mob over their use of a women's restroom at Cypress Black Bayou Park in Benton, Louisiana.
Aurora Rush and Shae Sanders went to Cypress Black Bayou Park on May 31 for a lakeside cookout. Rush, a trans woman, used the women's restroom and returned to the lake without incident. Later, as the couple headed back to their car, Sanders, who is nonbinary and was assigned female at birth, stopped to use the same restroom, according to journalist S. Baum, reporting for Erin Reed's Erin in the Morning Substack.
As Rush waited outside, she says a man began harassing her. He followed her to her car, threatening to harm her if she entered the women's restroom, calling her slurs, and trying to provoke a fight. After leaving some belongings in the car, Rush returned to a pavilion outside the restroom to wait for Sanders.
Former Disney star Geno Segers has left the new Broadway cast of Hadestown, following backlash over social media videos in which he mocked transgender people and dismissed claims that their rights are under attack.
Segers, who previously starred in the Disney XD sitcom Pair of Kings, was set to play Hades, god of the underworld, in the hit musical. According to the Broadway and community theater publication OnStage Blog, Segers had posted several videos to his social media channels with titles including "TRANS FAIRNESS?", "NO MORE TRANS?" and "HE...I MEAN SHE BROKE THE RECORD."
Point of Pride, a trans-led nonprofit that provides financial aid and direct health services to transgender youth and adults, has opened applications for its Thrive Fund, which helps trans people with expenses not covered by the organization's other programs.
Established in 2024, the Thrive Fund helps cover expenses beyond the nonprofit's existing services, which range from free chest binders and femme shapewear to financial assistance for transition-related surgery, hormone therapy, and electrolysis.
Thrive Fund grants can cover non-medical transition-related expenses, including legal fees for name and gender marker changes, fertility preservation, vocal therapy, and medical tattooing used to restore skin pigmentation or conceal scars from gender-affirming surgery. Applicants may request up to $2,500 at a time.
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