West Virginia appeals to Supreme Court to cut transgender surgery from Medicaid

West Virginia Attorney General Patrick Morrisey asked the Supreme Court this week to decide if his state can exclude transgender surgery coverage from Medicaid.

In a filing to the high court, Mr. Morrisey asked the justices to review a challenge to the state’s move to eliminate the transgender procedure as part of Medicaid coverage due to financial concerns.

He said West Virginia is one of the poorest states and residents’ medical costs continue to rise amid the opioid epidemic. As a way to address this issue, lawmakers moved to eliminate coverage for transgender surgery.

“By excluding these treatments, the state can direct its dollars to the medical care that provides the best health outcomes for all,” the petition read. “West Virginia provides many treatments to address gender dysphoria, including psychiatric diagnostic evaluation, psychotherapy, psychological evaluation, counseling, office visits, hormones and lab work.”

The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals earlier this week ruled against the state, saying the move to eliminate transgender surgery coverage violates the Equal Protection Clause of the Constitution by discriminating on the basis of sex.

The challenge, Anderson v. Crouch, was originally brought by a group of Medicaid recipients in the state looking to strike down the state’s move to cut the coverage.

Mr. Morrisey noted that one transgender surgery can cost “tens of thousands of dollars.”

“Taxpayers should not be required to pay for these surgeries under Medicaid,” he said.

“Under Medicaid, states have wide discretion to determine what procedures their programs can cover based on cost and other concerns,” Mr. Morrisey said. “Our state should have the ability to determine how to spend our resources to care for the vital medical needs of our citizens.”

It would take four justices to vote in favor of hearing the petition for oral arguments to be granted during the court’s next term, which begins in October.