Under Wisconsin’s administration of health insurance
benefits,”[p]rocedures, services, and supplies related to surgery and
sex hormones associated with gender reassignment” were excluded from
coverage. But a federal judge recently ruled the exclusion violated
antidiscrimination measures in the Affordable Care Act, and a jury just
awarded two transgender women $780,000 after they were denied coverage
for hormone therapy and surgery relating to their gender transitions.
On top of that, Wisconsin’s insurance board voted to allow the coverage beginning January 1, 2019.
Differential Treatment
Shannon Andrews, a cancer researcher at the UW School of Medicine and
Public Health, and Alina Boyden, a graduate student, filed the lawsuit
against the state with the help of the American Civil Liberties Union
last year. Andrews was forced to drain her retirement savings to pay for
treatment after her claims were denied, and Boyden was unable to afford
gender confirming surgery without insurance coverage. Both claimed
Wisconsin’s ban on transgender coverage violated sex discrimination
protections in Title VII of the Civil Rights Act and the ACA.
“Whether because of differential treatment based on natal sex, or
because of a form of sex stereotyping where an individual is required
effectively to maintain his or her natal sex characteristics,” wrote
U.S. District Judge William Conley, “the Exclusion on its face treats
transgender individuals differently on the basis of sex, thus triggering
the protections of Title VII and the ACA’s antidiscrimination
provision.”
Transgender Discrimination
Once Judge Conley found liability in favor of Andrews and Boyden on
their Title VII and ACA claims, it was just a matter of damages.
“Discrimination comes with a cost,” said legal director for the ACLU of
Wisconsin Larry Dupuis, “and for the state of Wisconsin the bill has
come.” The jury awarded Andrews $479,500 and Boyden $301,000, most of
the awards being for emotional pain and suffering. Andrews had paid
about $79,000 for two surgeries due to the lack of insurance coverage,
according to Dupuis, while Boyden paid about $1,000 for hormones.
While the present case applies to state employees, Conley also ruled in a
separate case that Wisconsin couldn’t bar the use of Medicaid funds to
pay for transgender surgery.
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