Biden Aministration urges court to uphold ruling on Florida transgender law
The Biden administration this week urged an appeals court to uphold a ruling that
Lawyers from the
In part, the brief pointed to what it described as "nondiscrimination requirements" in the Affordable Care Act. It said "
As an example, the brief partially quoted a ruling by U.S. District Judge
Lawyers for the state went to the
The lawsuit was filed last year on behalf of two transgender adults and the parents of two transgender minors after the
Gov.
In addition to this week's brief by the Biden administration, the state's appeal of Hinkle's ruling has drawn briefs from states and organizations across the country. Republican attorneys general from 18 states signed on to a friend-of-the-court brief in October urging the appeals court to overturn Hinkle's ruling; Democratic attorneys general from 19 states and the
The Medicaid coverage prohibition applied to minors and adults, but much of the debate in
In a brief filed in October at the appeals court, attorneys for the state wrote that the case is about "whether public funds should be used to reimburse for these treatments."
"It's a health and welfare question; it's a medical policy issue," the brief said. "It's an area where the state gets to draw the line between what's permissible and what isn't. Here, the state of
But opponents of the prohibition have argued that many major medical organizations support making the treatments available. In his June ruling, Hinkle wrote that the state had no "rational basis to categorically ban these treatments or to exclude them from the state's Medicaid coverage. The record includes no evidence that these treatments have caused substantial adverse clinical results in properly screened and treated patients."
In addition to citing the Affordable Care Act, the Biden administration this week pointed to two parts of a federal Medicaid law: One part is known as the early and periodic screening, diagnostic and treatment services, or EPSDT, requirement; the other is known as a comparability requirement.
The EPSDT requirement involves coverage of certain care for Medicaid beneficiaries under age 21, while the comparability requirement is designed to ensure equal treatment of beneficiaries, the brief said.
The Biden administration attorneys wrote that "as the district court found, treating gender dysphoria with these medications remains consistent with widely accepted standards of care."
"The district court correctly held, based on the trial record, that by categorically barring coverage for puberty blockers and hormone therapies when used to treat gender dysphoria,
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