TALLAHASSEE, Fla. — Wednesday, a U.S. District Court Judge struck down Florida's policy denying Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming medical care.
After a two-week trial, Judge Robert L. Hinkle ruled that Florida's prohibition on the coverage is unlawful and unconstitutional.
Judge Hinkle ordered the Florida Agency for Health Care Administration (AHCA) to end its enforcement of the ban, which was put into effect last August.
The ruling also nullifies a section of recently-enacted Senate Bill 254, which similarly banned state funding for Medicaid coverage of gender-affirming care.
The plaintiff in the federal suit is 29-year-old August Dekker, a transgender man from Hernando County. He and three other plaintiffs brought the lawsuit against AHCA in 2022.
