Federal Appeals Court Rules West Virginia and North Carolina Must Pay for Transgender Healthcare

A federal appeals court on Monday ruled West Virginia and North Carolina must pay for transgender healthcare.

The Fourth Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 8-6 “in the case involving coverage of gender-affirming care by North Carolina’s state employee health plan and the coverage of gender-affirming surgery by West Virginia Medicaid.”

The case is likely headed to the US Supreme Court.

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey vowed to take the fight to the Supreme Court.

“Decisions like this one, from a court dominated by Obama and Biden-appointees, cannot stand: we’ll take this to the Supreme Court and win,” Patrick Morrisey said.

AG @MorriseyWV vows to take fight over state Medicaid’s choice not to pay for sex-transition surgeries to SCOTUS

“Decisions like this one, from a court dominated by Obama- & Biden-appointees, cannot stand: we’ll take this to the Supreme Court and win.”https://t.co/V3WzjqlUTx

— Patrick Morrisey Press (@MorriseyPress) April 29, 2024

AP reported:

West Virginia and North Carolina’s refusal to cover certain health care for transgender people with government-sponsored insurance is discriminatory, a federal appeals court ruled Monday in a case likely headed to the U.S. Supreme Court.

The Richmond-based 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals ruled 8-6 in the case involving coverage of gender-affirming care by North Carolina’s state employee health plan and the coverage of gender-affirming surgery by West Virginia Medicaid.

“The coverage exclusions facially discriminate on the basis of sex and gender identity, and are not substantially related to an important government interest,” Judge Roger Gregory, first appointed by former President Bill Clinton and re-appointed by former President George W. Bush, wrote in the majority opinion.

The ruling follows a decision earlier this month by 4th Circuit judges that West Virginia’s transgender sports ban violates the rights of a teen athlete under Title IX, the federal civil rights law that prohibits sex-based discrimination in schools.

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