Despite more than two hours of opposition lobbying against the legislation, a House panel approved a bill Thursday mandating insurance companies that provide transgender care to also be required to cover de-transition treatments.
The House Infrastructure Strategies Committee voted in favor of HB 1639 after emotional testimony during a five-hour meeting.
“This is a charged debate,” said bill sponsor Rep. Doug Bankson, a Republican from Apopka who argued his legislation was “bringing compassion to those who have seen and experienced brokenness in their life and want to make themselves whole.”
Others viewed it differently, calling it a slap in the face to the LGBTQ+ community.
“This bill is not compassionate,” said Rep. Angie Nixon, a Jacksonville Democrat. “It has everything to do with transphobia and infringing upon the freedoms of people you don’t understand, people you fear or people you simply don’t agree with how they live their lives.”
Under the bill, health insurance companies covering prescriptions or procedures as part of transgender care will also provide coverage for treatment to de-transition “for an appropriate additional premium” starting January 1, 2025, according to the staff analysis.
Insurance companies offering transgender care will also be required to offer additional policies that does not offer that coverage.
The bill also requires a driver license or identification card to include a person’s sex at birth, instead of gender.
“This does not take anyone’s right to personally identify how they wish but this is a state document based upon state statute. That’s why there’s clarity,” Bankson said.
Democrats argued the state was interfering in the private sector by deciding what insurance companies are required to cover. Others accused Republicans of hypocrisy, pointing out state doesn’t require insurance companies to cover reversals for vasectomies and penile implants.
Bankson called transition surgeries “relatively new” in the medical field and said there needed to be a “two-way street” for people who undergo.
“It is discriminatory to say we will make you whole this direction, but not make you whole this direction,” he said.
Bankson denied his legislation was attacking the transgender community and argued he didn’t believe his bill, if passed, could lead insurance companies to deciding to drop transition surgeries.
“I know there are fears that this will cause the insurance coverage there to be diminished. I have not had anyone from the insurance industry speaking out against this bill, telling me this is terrible,” he said. “I truly think it’s the opposite.”
The majority of the testimony from the public voiced opposition to the bill as LGBTQ+ advocates shared how gender-affirming care helped them and compared reparative therapy to conversion therapy.
The ranking Democrat on the committee lamented HB 1639 debate dominating the meeting.
“We have spent over two hours on this bill just today, and on all the other days to talk about something that does no harm to anyone,” said Rep. Christine Hunscherofsky. “We should be spending more time looking at expanding Medicaid and all these other things we could be doing to actually help people. It is so painful.”
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