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Trans advocates say budget language banning Medicaid-funded gender-affirming mental health care would put lives at risk
Summary
Dozens of transgender Ohioans and advocacy groups testified that sections in House Bill 96 would bar Medicaid funding for mental-health services that 'promote or affirm' social gender transition, and they told the Senate committee that the change would worsen suicide and homelessness among trans youth and adults.
Multiple witnesses at the Senate Medicaid Committee hearing urged lawmakers to strike provisions in House Bill 96 that would prohibit Medicaid reimbursement for mental-health services described in the bill as promoting or affirming social gender transition.
"This bill will do nothing but harm for my fellow trans individuals here in Ohio," said Cookie Dixon, a 20-year-old transgender woman who testified she had been approved for Medicaid to afford hormones and mental-health care. "Mental health services that are targeted at and affirm queer people are highly important for our safety and well-being."
Speakers included national- and state-level advocates and dozens…
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