Republicans are pushing legislation to hold Texas health insurance providers liable for all of the ancillary costs associated with gender-affirming surgeries in the state, a move critics claim could end the practice of gender-affirming care.
"This would just simply say that if you're going to transition someone, then you're going to have to assume the responsibility to take care of them," Hall said Tuesday during debate on the bill. But it also forbids all public insurance plans from covering gender-affirming care, not just for children but for people of all ages, while putting doctors on the hook for all liability tied to their surgeries, creating an environment critics say makes gender-affirming care too risky for doctors to perform.
People march to the Texas Capitol during a Queer March demonstration on April 15, 2023, in Austin. People from across Texas rallied in protest against anti-LGBTQIA+ and drag bills being proposed by legislators. Republicans are pushing legislation to hold Texas health insurance providers liable for all of the ancillary costs associated with gender-affirming surgeries in the state.around the country—is nothing more than an effort to price the transgender community out of existence.
"So much of what we're hearing from the lawmakers who are filing these bills is that they want to 'protect kids,' but this is because it's not about our kids at all. It's just about erasing trans people," Jonathan Gooch, communications director for the advocacy group Texas Equality, toldThe bill is part of a larger slate of anti-LGBTQ legislation in the Texas state legislature this session.