In Florida this weekend the Agency for Health Care Administration’s (AHCA) rule that ends Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming care officially goes into effect stripping life-saving care from thousands of vulnerable Floridians. The rule denies Medicaid coverage for transgender healthcare is just part of a broader assault on healthcare for transgender Floridians that has engulfed state agencies & the legislature. Nikole Parker, Equality Florida Director of Transgender Equality stated, “As it has been with these attacks across the board, the cruelty is the point. Gender-affirming care is lifesaving care. That care is now being shut off by a state agency that has been corrupted, weaponized & stacked with extremists by a governor desperate to fuel his own political ambitions. For many, that will mean losing access to health care they have been relying upon for decades. The transgender community, like all people, shouldn’t have necessary care stripped away by extremist politicians working overtime to stoke right-wing fervor. This cynical attack is dangerous & puts the health of thousands at risk.” Dr. Gary Howell, CEO and Chief Psychologist at the Center for Psychological Growth concluded,
“As a psychologist who works with transgender & nonbinary patients, I am deeply concerned for those who will be directly impacted by this unconscionable move to deny gender-affirming care. I have already begun to see an increase in suicidal ideation in patients who fear they will be forced by the state out of their transition process. Gender-affirming care is medically necessary & lifesaving.” The DeSantis Administration assault on gender-affirming care is motivated by the Governor’s desperate desire for unchecked power & is taking a toll on Florida’s transgender community.
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