The U.S. Supreme Court rejected North Carolina State Health Plan’s effort to shield itself from health care discrimination lawsuits. The decision will protects the rights of marginalized people including LGBTQ people & people living with HIV to seek justice & obtain relief in court if they are subjected to health care discrimination. This allows Lambda Legal & the Transgender Legal Defense & Education Fund (TLDEF) who are suing the health plan, the North Carolina State Health Plan for Teachers & State Employees for its blanket exclusion of coverage for gender-affirming health care services to go forward. Omar Gonzalez-Pagan Lambda Legal Senior Attorney & Health Care Strategist stated, “We are pleased that the Supreme Court decided not to review this case & that we can now focus on holding North Carolina’s State Health Plan accountable for its discriminatory & harmful refusal to provide comprehensive health care coverage – including for gender-affirming care – to all its state employees & their dependents. The Court’s denial leaves in place a court of appeals decision strongly affirming that it is unlawful & dangerous for state entities receiving federal funding to engage in discrimination in health care & that they are not immune from accountability in court. Entities, like The State Health Plan, must be held accountable when they discriminate & violate people’s rights. Today’s decision protects the rights of marginalized people, including LGBTQ people & people living with HIV, to seek justice & obtain relief in court if they are subjected to health care discrimination.” David Brown TLDEF Legal Director concluded, "The Fourth Circuit got it right with its carefully-considered September 2021 opinion deciding that states receiving federal funding can be sued if they discriminate.”
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