Medicaid: Last News

WYPR.There are currently estimated to be around 24,000 transgender individuals in Maryland, nearly one-quarter of whom are enrolled in Medicaid.In 2022, about 100 people received gender-affirming care through Medicaid. The proposed bill is expected to increase that number by about 25 people per year.Maryland health officials say that if each of the estimated 125 people were to utilize every single new gender-affirming treatment under the bill — which is not possible, as some of those procedures or treatments contradict each other, it would increase Medicaid spending by $7.6 million, or 0.6% of the $11.7 billion Maryland spent on Medicaid expenditures in 2019.Opponents of the bill argue that the services that transgender patients can have covered by Medicaid are not provided for other Medicaid recipients.Additionally, cisgender Medicaid recipients aren’t eligible for coverage for services like dentures, home birth services, or treatment for eating disorders, reports Baltimore FOX affiliate WBFF.“It seems discriminatory to utilize Medicaid money for cosmetic surgeries and fertility services that aren’t offered to other people on Medicaid,” Del.

Writing on X, McMaster noted that he would be holding a ceremonial bill signing event next week to tout the bill’s benefits.“I signed the Help Not Harm bill into law, which protects our state’s children from irreversible gender transition procedures and bans public funds from being used for them,” he wrote.I signed the Help Not Harm bill into law, which protects our state’s children from irreversible gender transition procedures and bans public funds from being used for them. I look forward to joining legislators and supporters at a ceremonial bill signing in the Upstate next week.

rule prohibiting Medicaid from covering the cost of gender-affirming medical treatments that assist a transgender-identifying person in transitioning.The rule, approved last August by the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration, applies to treatments sought out by both minors and adults, declaring that transition-related treatments do not “meet the definition of medical necessity” to qualify for coverage under Medicaid.The rule was passed as Florida officials have sought to crack down on all forms of LGBTQ visibility, including passing a law blocking transgender youth from accessing gender-affirming treatments.Under the administration of Republican Gov.

estimates that 29 bills seeking to ban gender-affirming treatments — mostly for youth, though some seek to ban Medicaid and private insurers from covering transition-related procedures — have been passed into law this year.“We should not be in the business of telling low-income or impoverished people that they don’t deserve access to the same level of care that every other Maryland resident has access to,” Del. Kris Fair (D-Frederick Co.), the chair of the Maryland LGBTQ+ Caucus, told The Washington Post.

prohibiting Medicaid from covering gender-affirming health care treatments, even if a patient’s primary medical provider declares that such care is medically necessary.The plaintiffs in the lawsuit include August Dekker, a 28-year-old transgender man and Medicaid recipient who receives hormone therapy to treat his gender dysphoria; and Brit Rothstein, a 20-year-old transgender man and Medicaid recipient who receives hormone therapy and is scheduled to obtain top surgery to treat his gender dysphoria — a procedure that Medicaid had pre-authorized.Other plaintiffs include a 12-year-old trans boy and 12-year old trans girl, both of whom are receiving puberty blockers at the recommendation of their doctors, which were covered by Medicaid until Florida adopted its new rule.The revised rule, which went into effect on Aug. 21, was approved by the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration, which oversees Florida’s Medicaid program.

California Department of Public Health, the number of syphilis, chlamydia, and gonorrhea infections in California — taken together — rose more than 62% from 2013 to 2019. In addition, COVID-19-related lockdowns and social distancing, as well as the shuffling of some medical staff to prioritize treating COVID-19-related illnesses, have made it more difficult for state residents to seek out free or low-cost STI testing, especially in rural areas where testing locations or services may not be as readily accessible.The bill also requires expectant parents to be screened for syphilis during the first and third trimesters of pregnancy in order to protect infants from contracting congenital syphilis, rates of which rose 232% in California from 2015 to 2019, according to the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention.