This bill amends the Public Health Service Act, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. Its primary purpose is to mandate that group health plans and health insurance issuers offering coverage for "sex-rejecting procedures" must also provide benefits for items and services to address the harms resulting from such procedures. This requirement applies even if the original "sex-rejecting procedure" was not covered by the individual's current plan or issuer. The bill broadly defines a "sex-rejecting procedure" as any medical or surgical intervention intended to align an individual's physical appearance or body with an asserted identity differing from their biological sex. This extensive definition includes a wide array of interventions such as puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, various genital and breast surgeries, and other cosmetic procedures. However, it explicitly excludes treatments for medically verifiable disorders of sex development, procedures for imminent physical danger, precocious puberty, and male circumcision. The bill introduces "restorative care" as items and services furnished to individuals who have undergone "sex-rejecting procedures" to address, mitigate, or reverse their adverse effects. This care is intended to restore healthy human form and functioning to the greatest extent practicable. Examples of covered restorative care include services for impaired reproductive capacity, endocrine dysfunction, impaired sexual or urinary function, vocal cord damage, secondary-sex-characteristic changes, skeletal disorders, cardiovascular complications, and surgical complications. It also covers reconstructive surgeries, rehabilitation services, psychiatric conditions, diagnostic testing, and certain fertility services. For these restorative care services, health plans and issuers must ensure that financial requirements, such as deductibles and co-pays, are no more restrictive than those applied to substantially all other medical and surgical benefits. Similarly, treatment limitations, like visit limits or prior authorization, must also be comparable. This ensures that individuals seeking to address the harms of "sex-rejecting procedures" receive equitable coverage. The provisions of this bill are set to take effect for plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2027.
This bill amends the Public Health Service Act, the Employee Retirement Income Security Act of 1974 (ERISA), and the Internal Revenue Code of 1986. Its primary purpose is to mandate that group health plans and health insurance issuers offering coverage for "sex-rejecting procedures" must also provide benefits for items and services to address the harms resulting from such procedures. This requirement applies even if the original "sex-rejecting procedure" was not covered by the individual's current plan or issuer. The bill broadly defines a "sex-rejecting procedure" as any medical or surgical intervention intended to align an individual's physical appearance or body with an asserted identity differing from their biological sex. This extensive definition includes a wide array of interventions such as puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, various genital and breast surgeries, and other cosmetic procedures. However, it explicitly excludes treatments for medically verifiable disorders of sex development, procedures for imminent physical danger, precocious puberty, and male circumcision. The bill introduces "restorative care" as items and services furnished to individuals who have undergone "sex-rejecting procedures" to address, mitigate, or reverse their adverse effects. This care is intended to restore healthy human form and functioning to the greatest extent practicable. Examples of covered restorative care include services for impaired reproductive capacity, endocrine dysfunction, impaired sexual or urinary function, vocal cord damage, secondary-sex-characteristic changes, skeletal disorders, cardiovascular complications, and surgical complications. It also covers reconstructive surgeries, rehabilitation services, psychiatric conditions, diagnostic testing, and certain fertility services. For these restorative care services, health plans and issuers must ensure that financial requirements, such as deductibles and co-pays, are no more restrictive than those applied to substantially all other medical and surgical benefits. Similarly, treatment limitations, like visit limits or prior authorization, must also be comparable. This ensures that individuals seeking to address the harms of "sex-rejecting procedures" receive equitable coverage. The provisions of this bill are set to take effect for plan years beginning on or after January 1, 2027.