Transgender rights supporters and opponents rally outside of the U.S. Supreme Court as the high court hears arguments in a case on transgender health rights in December 2024 in Washington, D.C. An appeals court ruling in light of that case, U.S. v. Skrmetti, upheld West Virginia’s ban on Medicaid coverage for adult gender-affirming surgery. Experts say it could have broad implications. (Photo by Kevin Dietsch/Getty Images) A U.S. appeals court ruling last month that upheld West Virginia’s ban on Medicaid coverage for adult gender-affirming surgeries could embolden other states seeking to impose similar restrictions. The 4th U.S. Circuit Court of Appeals in March overturned a lower court decision in Anderson v. Crouch that had reversed West Virginia’s ban on Medicaid coverage for adult gender-affirming surgeries. The lower court ruled that the ban was discriminatory. The decision came after the Supreme Court last year upheld Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for youth in U...
A prison cell in Holman Correctional Facility in Atmore, Alabama, as seen on Oct. 22, 2019. The Alabama Department of Corrections abruptly canceled a $1 billion health care contract for what it said was the contractor's "failure to adequately fulfill its contractual duties." (File) The Alabama Department of Corrections has terminated a $1 billion health care contract with a troubled Tennessee company for what it called a “failure to adequately fulfill its contractual duties.” ADOC said it terminated the 5-year contract that it awarded in 2023 had with Tennessee-based YesCare after it was reported that the company could not meet payroll to pay its employees. “To ensure uninterrupted medical service, ADOC is working to execute an emergency agreement with NaphCare to provide inmate healthcare services,” Corrections said in a statement on Thursday. GET THE MORNING HEADLINES. SUBSCRIBE ADOC also said it would officially change the vendor to NaphCare on May 3. ...