Proposed legislation in Florida would hold businesses responsible for the cost of detransition care if they offer coverage for chemica...
Proposed legislation in Florida would hold businesses responsible for the cost of detransition care if they offer coverage for chemical and surgical sex change treatments.
Senate Bill 952, known as the “Reverse Woke Act,” filed by Republican Senator Blaise Ingoglia on Monday, would make employers accountable for the full cost of detransition care, even if an individual has left their employment.
“Woke businesses need to be held accountable when offering to pay for gender-affirming surgeries in other states, such as California because they are nothing more than political decisions masquerading as healthcare and human resource decisions,” Ingoglia said.
Ingoglia claims the legislation aims to prevent Floridians from being “used as political pawns to advance a leftist agenda for the Governor of California,” in reference to California law SB 107 that provides legal protection for families with minors who travel to California for chemical and surgical sex change services.
The proposed bill applies to employees who receive health insurance coverage through their employer, including any individual, partnership, corporation, or association with at least two employees.
Under the bill, if an employer provides coverage for gender dysphoria treatment, defined as any “surgery, hormone replacement therapy, or any other procedure or treatment that assists persons with gender dysphoria in transitioning to their self-identified gender,” the employer must also cover the full costs associated with treatments to reverse the treatment.
The bill outlines that if an employee, who has undergone gender dysphoria treatment through their employer’s insurance coverage, determines later that the treatment was not suitable for them, they are entitled to full coverage by their employer for the total costs of reversing the gender dysphoria treatment. This applies regardless of the employee’s current employment status with the employer.
In short, the proposed legislation requires employers to cover the costs of reversing any gender dysphoria treatment or gender transition treatment that an employee receives through their employer-provided health insurance.
Under the proposed legislation, patients who initiated gender transition outside of Florida can still request coverage for the treatment, provided they received the initial treatment while being insured by their employer. If the employer refuses to comply with this requirement, the employees have the right to take legal action to recover the costs and damages from the employer who fails to comply with the law.
The enforcement of the “Reverse Woke Act” is yet to be determined, and if approved by the Florida state legislature, it would go into effect on July 1. In August, the state adopted rules that prohibit Medicaid coverage of elective sex change treatments. In November, the Florida Board of Medicine and Board of Osteopathic Medicine voted to ban chemical and surgical sex change services for minors statewide.
No comments