Lawmakers Push Health Department to Expand Medicaid Coverage For Transgender Health Care

In light of recent federal policy changes, Sen. Mary L. Washington (D-Baltimore City) and Del. Anne R. Kaiser (D-Montgomery) are urging the Department of Health to redesign its Medicaid policy surrounding health care for transgender Marylanders.

Washington and Kaiser wrote to Maryland Department of Health Secretary Dennis R. Schrader in early April, saying that the state is at risk of being sued for violating nondiscrimination provisions under the Affordable Care Act. That’s because the current policy covers only a small set of gender-affirming procedures, and includes several exclusions and a long list of criteria that must be met to receive covered services.

“We strongly urge the Department to develop a new policy in line with legal requirements and defined by clinical best-practices in providing gender-affirming healthcare to our transgender population,” they wrote.

On a call Friday afternoon, Washington said the letter was her way of ensuring she did her “due diligence in exploring all pathways in getting this done.”

Read more: https://www.marylandmatters.org/2022/04/30/lawmakers-push-health-department-to-expand-medicaid-coverage-for-transgender-health-care/