ANNAPOLIS, Md. — Maryland has become only the third state in the nation to provide insurance coverage for transition-related care.
The policy change, which went into effect July 1 but was only announced publicly this week, means that any state employee, retiree, or dependent will be able to access mental health services, hormone therapy, and a range of surgeries associated with gender reassignment without having to pay entirely out of pocket, reports The Baltimore Sun.
The change comes as a result of legal negotiations in a discrimination case brought against the state by Sailor Holobaugh, a 31-year-old clinical research assistant in neurology at the University of Maryland School of Medicine in Baltimore.
The state agreed amid those negotiations to reimburse Holobaugh’s transition-related medical costs to date and apply the new standard to all of its employee health plans, rather than fight Holobaugh’s claim in court.
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California and Oregon are the other two states that provide similar insurance coverage for their transgender employees.
