The state of Georgia will now start funding gender-affirming health care for state employees, public school teachers and former employees covered by a state health insurance plan.
The move aims to settle a number of lawsuits against Georgia agencies aiming to force them to pay for gender-confirmation surgery and other procedures.
“There’s no justification, morally, medically, legally or in any other way for treating transgender health care as different and denying people access to it,” lawyer David Brown said.
The state will also pay a total of $365,000 to the plaintiffs and their lawyers as part of the settlement.
From ABC10 News:
Starting July 1, Georgia legally barred new patients under the age of 18 from starting hormone therapy and banned most gender-affirming surgeries for transgender people under 18. That law, challenged in court but still in effect, lets doctors prescribe puberty-blocking medications and allows minors already receiving hormone therapy to continue.
