Governor signs bill protecting gender-affirming care coverage in Colorado

Colorado Gov. Jared Polis signed legislation into law on Friday that codifies health insurance coverage for gender-affirming care.

"Today, we're sending a clear message: Coloradans will not let politics get in the way of medical care. As we face national efforts to erase access to gender-affirming care, including threats to Medicaid and pending decisions at the Supreme Court, we're stepping up to protect what we know is right," bill sponsor Rep. Kyle Brown, a Louisville Democrat, said ahead of the bill signing.

House Bill 25-1309 prohibits insurance plans from limiting or denying gender-affirming care that a doctor identifies as medically necessary. That care is an array of interventions for people whose gender is different than their sex assigned at birth, and can include things like hormone therapy, facial reconstruction, hair removal and breast augmentation.

The law also shields testosterone prescriptions from the state's Prescription Drug Monitoring Program. That program is intended to prevent duplicate or excessive prescriptions of opiates for people, but advocates worry it could be weaponized to go after providers who prescribe hormone therapy for transgender patients.

Brown sponsored the bill alongside Rep. Brianna Titone, an Arvada Democrat and Colorado's first openly transgender lawmaker; Sen. Lisa Cutter, a Littleton Democrat; and Sen. Julie Gonzales, a Denver Democrat. It passed with entirely Democratic support with a 23-12 vote in the Senate and 40-20 vote in the House.

"Putting this into law today will keep the people who are relying on the services of their doctors to be able to get that, and for parents to be able to know that their kids are going to have the care that they need," Titone said.

Twenty-six states have gender-affirming care bans in place at some level, according to the Human Rights Campaign. There are also threats at the federal level. An executive order from President Donald Trump in January restricts care for transgender youth, and the U.S. House of Representatives passed a budget reconciliation bill yesterday that bans gender-affirming care for people on Medicaid and plans under the Affordable Care Act.

"Regardless of what the federal government does to restrict our personal freedom and our privacy, in a 'Colorado For All,' we want to make sure we protect our basic freedom to keep the government out of the doctor's office," Polis said.

Polis also signed House Bill 25-1312 into law last week, which added protections for transgender people into the state's anti-discrimination law.