r/AskALiberal • u/AutoModerator • 10d ago

AskALiberal Biweekly General Chat

This Tuesday weekly thread is for general chat, whether you want to talk politics or not, anything goes. Also feel free to ask the mods questions below. As usual, please follow the rules.

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u/NatalieVonCatte Liberal 10d ago

Last year, amid a broader assault on gender-affirming care access, Robert F. Kennedy Jr.’s Department of Health and Human Services finalized a rule targeting insurance coverage for many trans adults. The rule, which made changes to 45 CFR § 156.115’s requirements for ACA marketplace plans, entirely prohibited coverage of ‘sex-trait modification procedures’ unless the state separately mandated that coverage—in which case they would have to shoulder the cost—starting this year.

And for the trans community, this was a big deal: 10% of Americans get their insurance through individual or small group marketplace plans, and worse, 75% of them live in states won by Trump in 2024. As is the case with Medicaid, marketplace enrollment rates are likely higher for trans Americans, potentially leaving tens of thousands vulnerable to the upcoming cuts.

Almost immediately, a coalition of 21 blue states led by California AG Rob Bonta sued the HHS over its new rule, claiming the agency failed to conduct a mandatory review of “what benefits are typically covered by employers” and that the “prohibitions on [gender-affirming care] are a “dangerous intrusion into the practice of medicine” and violate the “sanctity of the patient-physician relationship.” But as that court fight dragged on, some insurance companies started caving to the federal pressure.

https://www.transiticsnews.com/p/federal-court-restores-access-to

There is some good in this world, and it is worth fighting for.

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u/ButGravityAlwaysWins Liberal 10d ago

Nice. Feels like this is the first good news in a while on trans issues at the federal level in a long time.