West Virginia can ban Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming surgery, US court rules | CNN

A U.S. appeals court on Tuesday upheld West Virginia’s ban on Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming surgeries, the latest victory for Republican-led states seeking to curb the procedures amid an ongoing national battle over transgender rights. In a unanimous ruling, a three-judge panel of the 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in Richmond, Virginia, overturned a judge’s decision that the 2004 statute violated anti-discrimination protections under two federal laws as well as the U.S. Constitution’s promise of equal protection under the law. The 4th Circuit panel wrote that the law applies to specific procedures and not to specific individuals, and so it does not unlawfully discriminate against transgender people. Republican President Donald Trump’s administration has joined Republican-led states in seeking to curb gender-affirming treatment and transgender rights more broadly. What is gender-affirming care? Your questions, answered More than a dozen U.S. states prohibit or limit Medicaid coverage for gender-affirming care. Medicaid is the joint federal-state health insurance program for low-income people. The 4th Circuit became the first federal appeals court to uphold such