Fixing Medicaid to "Fix Society": Extending Medicaid Coverage of Gender-Affirming Healthcare to Transgender Youth

Abstract

Given the importance of gender-affirming healthcare for transgender youth, this Note considers whether age-based restrictions on Medicaid coverage of this healthcare are necessary and good policy. Part I of this Note provides context for the policy and law regarding gender-affirming healthcare and discusses the terms and rhetorical framing that mental health experts, trans-rights advocates, and legislators use to describe gender-affirming healthcare. In addition, it outlines the empirical research that supports the commonly held view of the mental health field that gender-affirming healthcare may be a medical necessity for transgender individuals. Lastly, it outlines the three approaches that states have taken to cover or exclude gender-affirming healthcare from Medicaid.