Florida sues U.S. over attempt to force state coverage of child gender transitions

TALLAHASSEE, Fla. – Florida announced on Tuesday a lawsuit against the federal government for attempting to require the state to cover costs for child gender sex transition treatments, which ultimately violates state law.

President Joe Biden’s Department of Health and Human Services and the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services are attempting to require Florida to specifically fund drugs and surgeries for the gender transition of children, the state said.

According to the state’s complaint, the order goes “far beyond what is required” by law and could result in a cost of around $200 million per year to Florida.

“Florida passed a law to protect our children from dangerous, irreversible gender-transition drugs and surgeries,” Attorney General Ashely Moody said in an announcement.

“Now, Biden and his federal bureaucrats are trying to go around our child-protection law to force the state to pay for puberty blockers and gender-transition surgery for children,” she added.

“These rules trample states’ power to protect their own citizens and we will not stand by as Biden tries, yet again, to use the force of the federal government to unlawfully stifle Florida’s effort to protect children,” Moody said.

The complaint, filed by Moody, explained that the federal government cites Section 1557 of the Affordable Care Act, which “forbids covered entities, including States, from discriminating in health programs or activities ‘on the ground prohibited under…title IX of the Education Amendments of 1972.’”

However, it continues to explain how the 2024 rules go “far beyond” what Section 1557 and Title IX require.

The office highlighted how, in addition to Florida, more than 20 states prohibit hormone treatment and surgery for minors.

According to the complaint, in 2016, then-President Barack Obama’s administration decided not to implement national coverage for gender-reassignment surgeries due to a lack of evidence that the surgery improves health outcomes.

In 2020, then-President Donald Trump’s government similarly concluded that there wasn’t enough quality evidence supporting gender-transition treatments.

The attorney general is joined in the lawsuit by the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration, the Florida Department of Management Services and the Catholic Medical Association.