Florida fines Medicaid providers for using tax money to cover trans treatment for minors

The state of Florida has fined five Medicaid insurers for using tax money to provide transgender treatment to minors, a new report showed.

Although a federal judge recently blocked a law in Florida banning transgender procedures for children, an Agency for Health Care Administration(AHCA) rule still required Medicaid health providers to deny coverage for such treatments in the state.

However, a report published by The Daily Wire indicates that a routine audit of the Medicaid system found that five providers ignored the rule and covered transgender procedures.

“These plans recklessly continued to cover these services with permanent, harmful effects after the rule was adopted,” said Jason Weida, secretary of the AHCA.

The report states that Simply Healthcare is one of those sanctioned for covering a mastectomy. The supplier now faces a $30,000 fine. The rest of the insurers were not specified, but their penalties were reported to have been smaller.

“We take this issue really seriously. We think that the protection of children is one of the most core functions of government here in Florida, and we’re going to do everything we can to protect children from these surgeries, which are really mutilating children across the country,” Weida said.

Legislation to “Let Kids Be Kids”

DeSantis signed five laws in May to “Let Kids Be Kids.” The legislation regulates different areas of child development, including surgical genital mutilation procedures and experimental hormone blockers. However, a judge partially blocked the order that would prevent trans treatments on minors.