State Employees’ Lawsuit Over Trans Coverage Exclusion Proceeds

North Carolina employees can proceed in a lawsuit challenging a state insurance plan’s blanket refusal to pay for gender-affirming care because the plan isn’t immune from suit, the Fourth Circuit said Wednesday.

The North Carolina State Health Plan for Teachers and State Employees must answer allegations that it discriminates against transgender employees and employees’ transgender dependents in violation of the Affordable Care Act’s Section 1557, a split U.S. Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit said.

Nearly 750,000 North Carolina teachers, state employees, retirees, lawmakers, university personnel, hospital staff members, and their dependents could be affected by the decision, ...