TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Florida’s Agency for Health Care Administration is poised to finish Medicaid protection of gender dysphoria remedies as quickly as this week.
AHCA is ready to resolve after the general public remark window closes at 5 p.m. Monday.
Officials stated a whole lot of individuals have weighed in on the controversial rule change.
If permitted, the rule eliminates Medicaid protection of puberty-blocking meds, hormone therapies, and sex-reassignment surgical procedures to fight gender dysphoria. Florida would be part of at the least nine other states explicitly denying entry to these therapies.
RELATED: Florida agency considers stripping transgender therapies from Medicaid coverage
As of Monday morning, AHCA obtained about 1,200 complete public feedback from opponents and supporters.
AHCA has justified the change, saying in a recent report there’s “insufficient evidence” that the therapies are secure and efficient.
Florida Surgeon General Joseph Ladapo tweeted that “Florida doesn’t support the medicalization of minors with GD because the benefits are unproven, and the risks are extraordinarily high.”
Florida doesn’t help the medicalization of minors with GD as a result of the advantages are unproven, and the dangers are terribly excessive.
Chloe was handled with puberty blockers and testosterone on the age of 13. @ChoooCole was brave sufficient to share her story with us. pic.twitter.com/vL8SF5BH0o
— Joseph A. Ladapo, MD, PhD (@FLSurgeonGen) July 10, 2022
Ladapo, a Gov. Ron DeSantis appointee, additionally shared a clip of Chloe Cole, a fellow supporter of the change.
The 17-year-old stated she regretted her determination to start out the remedies at 13.
“I don’t know if I’ll be able to carry a child,” Cole stated within the video clip. “I might be at higher risk for certain cancers. … This was not the path that I should have taken.”
LGBTQ advocates stand staunchly against the possible changes. They notice the American Academy of Pediatrics helps the remedies and warn the change could impact upwards of 9,000 transgender Floridians.
“The vast majority of medical experts fundamentally disagree with what the state is proposing,” state Rep. Carlos Guillermo Smith, D-Winter Park, stated.
The lawmaker is a powerful LGBTQ advocate, warning upwards of 9,000 transgender Floridians shall be impacted by the rule change.
E.W. Scripps
Cutting entry to their remedies, he stated, might have dire penalties.
“It’s more than just being mean-spirited against trans people. This rule change may cost lives,” Smith stated.
AHCA Secretary Simone Marstiller, a self-described Christian conservative, could have the ultimate say on whether or not to undertake the brand new rule. As the company’s head, officers stated she would have as a lot time as desired to make the choice. It might come very quickly or after a evaluation of the pile of public feedback.
Even with Marstiller’s anticipated approval, the talk over the change will doubtless spill into the courts.
Lambda Legal just lately stated it was getting ready to problem the rule’s constitutionality quickly after its formal adoption.