Due to the political desires of its governor, Ron DeSantis, Florida has been raging against the transgender community. It's latest goal is to deny gender affirming care for Medicaid users. On Friday of last week, a biased hearing was held on the matter
According to the Sun Sentinel:
Friday’s meeting drew more than 150 people, with supporters of the proposed rule — many of them sporting “Let Kids Be Kids” decals and making biblical references — vastly outnumbering opponents. Speakers supporting the proposal included a Baptist minister, members of the Florida Citizens Alliance, the head of the Christian Family Coalition, the founder of the Florida Prayer Network, a representative of the Florida Federation of Republican Women and a man carrying a giant American flag on a pole.
It's the same as the marriage equality fight. If you will remember, opponents of marriage equality were very successful in rallying supporters and seizing headlines. But this success always withered away when facts by noted experts were brought in. Apparently this fight is no different.
Today, a group of researchers from Yale University announced their review of Florida's justification to deny gender affirming care to Medicaid users. And it was not pretty.
As Florida policymakers pursue state-level restrictions on transgender care, legal and medical experts from Yale Law School, the Yale School of Medicine’s Child Study Center and Departments of Psychiatry and Pediatrics, University of Texas Southwestern, and University of Alabama at Birmingham have released a new report that identifies and refutes the many unscientific claims behind the effort. The Florida Agency for Health Care Administration’s (AHCA) June 2 Report alleges that nationally accepted standard medical care for gender dysphoria does not meet generally accepted medical standards for Medicaid coverage. A team of seven scientists and a law professor argue the State of Florida’s position is “thoroughly flawed and lacking scientific weight.”The report, “A Critical Review of the June 2022 Florida Medicaid Report on the Medical Treatment of Gender Dysphoria,” represents the first comprehensive examination of Florida’s June 2 Report, which the authors contend is a misleading document intended to justify denying Florida Medicaid coverage for gender dysphoria treatment. Nothing in Florida’s June 2 Report calls into question the scientific foundations of standard medical care for gender dysphoria, according to the authors.
