'Health care should be accessible, affordable and delivered equitably to all, regardless of your sexual orientation or gender identity,' Chiquita Brooks-LaSure said.
Colorado became the first state to include gender-affirming care as an essential benefit in individual and small group health insurance plans which make up nearly a quarter of health care customers in the state.
Chiquita Brooks-LaSure, the administrator of CMS, said the decision was"momentous" and that"gender-affirming care can be life-saving." Colorado's plan also incused additional health benefits like an annual mental health exam and expanded coverage of opioid alternatives for pain management, Democratic Gov.said. There are 15 additional drug alternatives and insurance covers up to six acupuncture visits per year, according to the Colorado Division of Insurance.
CMS approved the state's request to consider gender confirmation care part of its"essential health benefits," which are the requirements established for certain employer plans under former PresidentUnder federal law, state Medicaid programs are not required to provide gender-affirming care but each government can have policies that ban certain forms of affirmative care or not have anything written regarding the coverage.
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