Iowa court: Medicaid can cover sex reassignment surgeryAP News
By MARGERY A. BECK
3/8/2019
https://www.apnews.com/441af0c1657947ca93c898d663c8f965The Iowa Supreme Court on Friday upheld a lower court's ruling that the state cannot deny two transgender women Medicaid coverage for sex reassignment surgery.
The state's high court agreed with Judge Arthur Gamble's ruling in June that a 1995 Iowa Department of Human Services policy denying Medicaid coverage for sex reassignment surgery violates the state's 2007 Civil Rights Act, which added gender identity to the state's list of protected classes.
* * *
The American Civil Liberties Union of Iowa, which filed the lawsuit on the behalf of Beal and Good, called Friday's ruling "a landmark win."
"Denying health care coverage to someone because they are transgender is wrong and extremely harmful to those who need this care," said John Knight of the ACLU's LGBT & HIV Project.
Beal and Good also expressed elation over the ruling, with Beal saying she's "extremely happy for those people who will come after me, that we've made a path for them so that they can get the medical care and surgery they need."
Good said the decision has been a long time coming.
"So many people still don't understand that this is not something we need for trivial or cosmetic reasons," she said. "It's medical care a doctor is recommending for someone who has a medical need for it. And it can save lives. Transgender people are at such risk for suicide, and I've lost transgender friends to suicide. I hope this decision helps change that."
