West Virginia Medicaid Can Exclude Gender Surgery, Court Says

West Virginia’s Medicaid program can prohibit coverage of gender-affirming surgeries, a federal appeals court ruled, pointing to recent decisions from the US Supreme Court.

Tuesday’s decision from the US Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit follows a lengthy legal battle over West Virginia’s exclusion of surgeries for gender dysphoria. Participants in the West Virginia’s Medicaid program sued the state, alleging the exclusion violated the equal protection clause and more, emerging victorious at the lower court and later before the full Fourth Circuit.

The Supreme Court, however, later vacated that judgment and kicked the case back to the Fourth Circuit ...