Washington rule to protect gender-affirming treatment takes effect

The Gender-Affirming Treatment Act that was passed by Washington state Legislature in 2021 took effect at the start of 2022.

This will have a major positive impact on gender-affirming care moving forward.

The ruling clarifies many key components to the previous law to ensure that medically necessary gender-affirming treatments are covered by health insurers.

The law previously allowed insurers to deny coverage.

With the change, laser hair removal – a key piece for gender-affirming care that can get expensive with extended use – will now be covered.

Those monthly appointments to reach hair-free goals just became much easier to acquire.

In addition to laser hair removal, hormone therapy, counseling services, mastectomy and chest reconstruction, breast augmentation, gender-affirming facial procedures and tracheal shaves will also be among new rights to coverage.

Should a specific service be withheld and a patient feels unfairly denied coverage, they are encouraged to reach out to the Office of the Insurance Commissioner of Washington State to file a complaint.

Be sure to check out the full scope of these affirming rule changes on the Office of the Insurance Commissioner of Washington State website.