Republican attorneys general and legal representatives from 19 states have submitted an amicus brief in a Florida case, Dekker v. Weida, which currently mandates that transgender individuals in Florida continue to be offered coverage under Medicaid for their gender-affirming care. In 2022, the Florida Agency for Healthcare Administration introduced a standard of care, declaring that transgender care, irrespective of age, is experimental and thus shouldn’t be covered by the state’s Medicaid program. These guidelines, based on manipulated research by the agency and its contractors, have emerged as a pivotal element in legislative and judicial debates across the United States concerning transgender care. As Republican-led states with supermajorities explore avenues to challenge gender-affirming care, a new target is emerging: health insurance coverage for transgender adults and their essential medical needs. The letter, principally authored by Attorneys General Marshall, Griffin, and Skrmetti from Alabama, Arkansas, and Tennessee respectively, aims to reverse the Dekker decision. The attorneys general have referenced the Dobbs decision, which overturned abortion rights, eight separate times. They voice concerns that if the district court upholds Medicaid coverage, by imposing heightened scrutiny on laws affecting transgender individuals, it might similarly apply heightened scrutiny to abortion rights.
