Bill To Stop TennCare From Covering “Gender Affirming Treatments” Heads To Committee

Image Credit: Blake Wylie / CC

The Tennessee Conservative [By Adelia Kirchner] –

A bill to prevent TennCare from covering “gender-affirming” treatment has officially been scheduled for consideration by the House Subcommittee on Insurance.

Tennessee House Speaker Cameron Sexton (R-Crossville-District 25) is the primary sponsor for House Bill 1215 (HB1215) and Sen. Jack Johnson (R-Franklin-District 27) is backing the corresponding Senate Bill, SB1339, which was referred to the Senate Commerce and Labor Committee but has not yet been scheduled for a hearing. 

This legislation would prohibit “any managed care organization that contracts with the bureau of TennCare to provide medical assistance from providing reimbursement or coverage for a medical procedure if the performance or administration of the procedure is for the purpose of enabling a person to identify with, or live as, a purported identity inconsistent with the person’s sex, or treating purported discomfort or distress from a discordance between a person’s sex and asserted identity.”

A managed care organization or MCO is simply a term used to reference insurance companies. 

Ultimately, this bill would ban Tennessee’s Medicaid program, TennCare, and its contracted insurance companies from covering or reimbursing any sort of “gender-affirming” treatment. 

Insurance companies would also be prohibited from contracting with TennCare if their parent companies cover such treatments. This includes companies that don’t cover these treatments in Tennessee, but continue to cover them elsewhere.

When asked about his proposal Rep. Sexton said, “We don’t want our MCOs, that are profiting off the TennCare program, to take that money and go to other states. They have to make a choice if they want to be one of our MCOs.” 

“I don’t feel like the Tennessee profits should be used to go to other states to cover services that Tennessee does not deem appropriate.”

Rep. Sexton went on to summarize HB1215 saying, “it’s a pretty straightforward bill. We’re not telling them they can’t cover it. If they want to cover it in other states, that’s fine. It just means we’re going to go a different route for that company being an MCO on the state’s biggest insurance plan.”

House Bill 1215 has been assigned to the House Subcommittee on Insurance and placed on their calendar for consideration on February 14^th, 2023. 

If you wish to express support for this legislation, contact information for the Representatives on the subcommittee can be found below.

Rep. Esther Helton-Haynes (R) – Chair – rep.esther.helton@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-1934

Rep. Kip Capley (R) – rep.kip.capley@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-2190

Rep. Scott Cepicky (R) – rep.scott.cepicky@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-3005

Rep. Gary Hicks (R) – rep.gary.hicks@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-7480

Rep. Sabi Kumar (R) – rep.sabi.kumar@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-2860

Rep. Justin Lafferty (R) – rep.justin.lafferty@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-4110

Rep. Brock Martin (R) – rep.brock.martin@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-7478

Rep. Tim Rudd (R) – rep.tim.rudd@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-2804

Rep. Iris Rudder (R) – rep.iris.rudder@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-8695

Rep. Bryan Terry (R) – rep.bryan.terry@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-2180

Rep. Caleb Hemmer (D) – rep.caleb.hemmer@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-2035

Rep. Bo Mitchell (D) – rep.bo.mitchell@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-4317

If you wish to express support for this legislation, contact information for the bill sponsors can be found below. 

Representative Cameron Sexton (R) – speaker.cameron.sexton@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-2343

Senator Jack Johnson (R) – sen.jack.johnson@capitol.tn.gov – (615) 741-2495

About the Author: Adelia Kirchner is a Tennessee resident and reporter for the Tennessee Conservative. Currently the host of Subtle Rampage Podcast, she has also worked for the South Dakota State Legislature and interned for Senator Bill Hagerty’s Office in Nashville, Tennessee.