The Texas Legislature has passed legislation requiring insurance companies covering gender mutilation procedures to also cover medical care related to any adverse effects or reversals, sending the bill to Gov. Greg Abbott for final approval.
Senate Bill 1257, authored by State Sen. Bryan Hughes (R–Mineola) and carried in the House by State Rep. Jeff Leach (R–Plano), passed the Senate in April and was approved by the House on Monday.
The legislation applies to almost all health benefit plans regulated by the state, including private insurance, Medicaid, and CHIP.
Under the bill, insurance providers must cover any adverse medical effects or complications related to a gender mutilation procedure and care for those who seek to detransition.
The bill also mandates annual follow-up health screenings and care to manage, reverse, or recover from gender transition procedures.
“What this bill says very clearly is, if you have adverse effects, if you want to detransition, then your insurance company, who originally paid for your care, will pay for your detransition care,” Leach said during debate on the House floor.
Democrats criticized the bill as an unnecessary and politically motivated mandate on private insurance providers. Republicans countered that Democrats have often supported mandates on insurers for other types of health coverage and argued that the bill is about ensuring that Texans seeking to detransition have access to necessary care.
“If you take someone to the dance, you gotta take them home,” said Leach.
The legislation passed the House on a party-line 87-58 vote.
The House also gave final approval on Monday to House Bill 229 by State Rep. Ellen Troxclair (R–Lakeway) which would require Texas state agencies and other governmental entities to define and collect data on biological sex strictly as male or female, codifying definitions of terms like “male,” “female,” “man,” and “woman” based on reproductive biology.
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