Florida’s attorney general and a national Catholic medical group are suing to block a new Biden administration Health Care rule that would force doctors to provide and insurance plans to pay for treatments like puberty blockers and hormone therapy. The plaintiffs want the federal court to toss the rule, which carries out a law against discrimination based on sex.
Legal Issues Health Care
Florida’s top prosecutor and a Catholic medical group are suing the Biden administration in an attempt to block a rule that they say will force doctors to provide gender transition care against their judgment or face heavy penalties. The lawsuit by Attorney General Ashley Moody and the Catholic Medical Association filed in federal court in Tampa on Monday takes aim at a new rule published Monday by the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) that bans discrimination in health care on the basis of gender identity.
The lawsuit says the new HHS rule violates the Administrative Procedure Act and Spending Clause, two provisions of the U.S. Constitution, by requiring states and health insurance companies that receive federal funds to implement the rules or lose billions of dollars. It also claims the federal agencies misinterpreted a law that forbids discrimination based on “gender identity or sexual orientation.”
It also notes that HHS is tying the policy to the Affordable Care Act’s anti-discrimination provision, requiring doctors and insurers to comply with it in order to receive federal funding, even if they believe it violates their religious beliefs. The plaintiffs, including a family represented by the Southern Legal Counsel and four national advocacy groups that include GLBTQ Legal Advocates & Defenders and the National Center for Lesbian Rights, argue that HHS’s rules interfere with the states’ right to determine health care coverage policies and regulations.
In a press release, Moody said the HHS rules were implemented without any congressional review and that they will force the state to violate its own laws on health care. Those laws require adults seeking gender-affirming prescriptions or procedures to sign informed consent forms approved by the Florida Board of Medicine and Osteopathic Medicine, which is appointed directly by Gov. Ron DeSantis. They also must be treated, in person or by video conference, by a doctor certified to perform those treatments.
Many transgender people in Florida who need the treatment say they won’t be able to afford to leave the state to find treatment elsewhere. One, named Eli in the lawsuit, worries they’ll be at risk of violence and hate crimes if they can’t continue receiving hormone therapy from the Orlando clinic that prescribed it to them.
Defendants
The Florida attorney general and a Catholic medical group are suing to block the Biden administration’s new rule requiring doctors to perform gender-transition surgery. The lawsuit, filed Monday, accuses federal health officials of violating the Administrative Procedure Act and the Spending Clause of the U.S. Constitution by imposing a requirement that violates state law and the First Amendment.
The lawsuit includes 84 pages of text and numerous exhibits, including arguments that the regulations would force doctors to provide and insurance to pay for treatments such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy and to perform gender-transition surgeries on minors. These procedures go against the religious beliefs of many doctors and the physicians’ oath to “do no harm.” The plaintiffs are seeking an injunction against the regulations and compensation for damages.
Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody has joined the attorneys general of Alabama, Georgia and South Carolina in filing a lawsuit to block the Obamacare rule. Moody and the Catholic Medical Association say the administration is trying to force the state to violate a law that prohibits gender-transition surgery for minors.
Moody has also joined the attorneys general of Kansas and Texas in challenging a federal rule that applies to Medicaid and other programs funded with federal money, preventing them from excluding transgender people from services like hormone therapy or gender affirming surgery. The rules were issued by the Department of Health and Human Services in April.
In a letter accompanying the lawsuit, Moody argues that the federal government is interfering with the state’s authority and tying funding for state programs to compliance with new transgender healthcare rules. She says the rules impose an unworkable mandate that violates the Administrative Procedure Act and Spending Clause.
Moody’s office has previously criticized the Obamacare rules for interfering with states’ authority. She joined her colleagues in suing over the rules in June 2022, and she and the other Republican attorneys general have continued to challenge the Trump administration’s efforts to expand protections for LGBT students. This is a developing story. For more information, check back in with us each weekday for the latest Tampa Bay news.
Class Action
The lawsuit filed Monday is a class action on behalf of transgender people who are facing more restrictions to the care they receive. The plaintiffs include several Florida residents, as well as the state Agency for Health Care Administration, which runs the Medicaid program, and the Department of Management Services, which oversees a massive health insurance program for state employees and retirees.
The federal rule, which takes effect on July 5, is meant to carry out a section of the Affordable Care Act that prohibits discrimination in health care and insurance programs that receive federal funding. It prohibits doctors, hospitals and other providers from denying treatment to patients on the basis of their sex. Florida Attorney General Ashley Moody, a Republican, and other members of the GOP-controlled state Legislature have opposed the rule.
Moody and others argue that it forces states to violate their own laws. They say the federal rule prevents health care providers from adhering to their own medical standards, putting their patients at risk of physical and emotional harm. The attorneys also complain that the rules tie federal funding to compliance with them, which violates a law known as the Administrative Procedure Act.
In a statement, Moody says that the new federal rules force Florida to “make impossible choices between providing access to health care for all Floridians and losing billions of dollars in federal funds.” The state is arguing that the federal government overstepped its authority by allowing physicians to refuse treatments for patients on the basis of their gender identity.
Gender-affirming care is important, advocates say, because it helps protect against health risks such as depression, homelessness and suicide. It can even help reduce the risk of serious injuries, including homicide, from gun violence and sexual assault.
But the Florida legislative and executive branches have consistently pushed an anti-transgender political agenda. They’ve banned treatments such as hormone therapy and puberty blockers for transgender people diagnosed with gender dysphoria. A federal judge blocked portions of the law that affects minors last year, and he’s currently considering whether to block the restrictions on adult treatment as well.
Summary
Florida’s attorney general and the Catholic Medical Association are suing the Biden administration to try to block a new federal rule that restricts access to best-practice health care for transgender Floridians. The suit, filed Monday in Tampa, targets a federal law that prevents discrimination on the basis of sex and gender identity in programs that receive funding from the Department of Health and Human Services. The rule, which was released last month, expands that law to include medical procedures like puberty blockers and hormone therapy for adults who have transitioned from male to female.
The rule also threatens to strip federal funding from states and insurance companies that do not comply with the new rules. The lawsuit says the rule is a violation of federal law, which prevents discrimination on the basis of a patient’s sexual orientation and gender identity, as well as a constitutionally protected right to privacy. The lawsuit, which asks a judge to block the new rule from going into effect, names several senior government officials and employees at HHS as defendants.
A HHS spokesman declined to comment on the lawsuit, citing ongoing litigation. But the organization’s previous statements have backed up Florida’s decision to oppose the rule. The organization has said that it supports the “rights of all individuals to seek the medically appropriate treatment that is best for them.”
In May, Florida Gov. Ron DeSantis signed a bill banning the use of hormone therapy and surgeries for young people who identify as male or female, even if they have documented a lifelong diagnosis of gender dysphoria. The ban, which goes into effect in July, is part of a larger effort by DeSantis and his Republican colleagues to prevent treatment for people who have been diagnosed with gender dysphoria.
Planned Parenthood, which provides care for many of the state’s transgender patients, said it would reschedule appointments and continue offering gender-affirming treatments. The company has clinics in Gainesville, Jacksonville and Tallahassee, as well as locations in Kendall and Golden Glades. The lawsuit filed Monday alleges that the federal rule will force doctors to perform procedures against their professional judgment or risk losing their medical licenses.
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