Maryland shifts insurance policy to cover transition-related care of transgender employees
By Kevin Rector, The Baltimore Sun | |
McClatchy-Tribune Information Services |
The change quietly went into effect at the start of this month as the result of legal negotiations in a discrimination case brought against the state by Sailor Holobaugh, a 31-year-old clinical research assistant in neurology at the
The state agreed amid those negotiations to reimburse Holobaugh's transition-related medical costs to date and apply the new standard to all of its employee health plans, rather than fight Holobaugh's claim in court.
"This is basically a fabulous shift in policy," Holobaugh said in an interview.
The change makes
"
The change was announced publicly on Tuesday.
Holobaugh's case began in
Holobaugh appealed the decision with the
Attorneys filed additional complaints on Holobaugh's behalf with the
The change strips language explicitly banning coverage for such procedures and care under state employee plans and replaces it with language adopted from the
The new inclusive policy applies to state employees, retirees and any dependents who are covered under their health plans, and covers mental health services, continuous hormone therapy and a variety of surgeries connected with gender transition.
"It's pretty exciting," said Holobaugh, who grew up in
"It's a pretty sweeping change," said
Welter said a 2007 executive order by Gov.
The
"
It was unclear Monday what the projected cost of the changes will be to the state moving forward.
Nothing in the new language opens the door to transgender state employees recouping out-of-pocket costs for transition-related care in the past, though Welter said employees in that situation could seek legal counsel to look into the possibility of retroactive reimbursements.
The shift in policy follows other victories for the transgender community this year, including passage of a bill preventing discrimination against transgender people in housing, employment and other public accommodations in the state and the expansion of
But there have also been setbacks for the transgender community locally, including two separate and unsolved murders of transgender women in the city in the last two months.
"We applaud these advances and at the same time remain very cognizant that changing the legal landscape does not translate to acceptance and safety for transgender people as police still work to find the killers of
Holobaugh, who has been reimbursed for his surgery costs, said he hopes the shift for state employees will help spur further changes under private insurance plans in the state. The
Welter said the state's decision to cover such treatments for its own employees, a change that is gaining traction in other states as well, is a sign of progress in the right direction.
"We are certainly hoping that this decision is part of a real ground swelling that we're seeing, a real sea change, this year," he said. "We are certainly hoping to build on this victory. There's a lot more work to be done in
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