Text of HI SR 126 (2021)

THE SENATE S.R. NO. 126 THIRTY-FIRST LEGISLATURE, 2021 STATE OF HAWAII SENATE RESOLUTION supporting and urging the inclusion of gender transition treatments and services as medically necessary for the purposes of health care insurance coverage. WHEREAS, according to the American Medical Association, approximately 1,400,000 adults and 150,000 youth ages thirteen to seventeen in the United States identify as transgender, meaning those individuals' gender identity and/or expression is different from cultural expectations based on the sex they were assigned at birth, or identify as gender expansive, meaning they identify with neither a traditional binary gender role nor a single gender narrative or experience; and WHEREAS, many but not all transgender people experience gender dysphoria, a medical condition defined by the American Medical Association as a "conflict between a person's physical or assigned gender and the gender with which he/she/they identify"; and WHEREAS, standards of care and accepted medically necessary services that affirm gender or treat gender dysphoria may include but are not limited to mental health counseling, non-medical social transition, gender-affirming hormone therapy, and gender-affirming surgeries; and WHEREAS, every major medical association in the United States recognizes the medical necessity of transition-related care for improving the physical and mental health of transgender people and has called for health insurance coverage for treatment of gender dysphoria; and WHEREAS, as a population, transgender individuals are frequently subject to bias and discrimination in many aspects of their lives, including the provision of health care; and WHEREAS, the transgender population is less likely to be insured than the lesbian, gay, and bisexual (LGB) and general populations and often faces challenges in accessing needed health care services; and WHEREAS, a 2016 report by the National Center for Transgender Equality found that: (1) Twenty-five percent of surveyed respondents experienced a problem with their insurance in the past year related to being transgender, such as being denied coverage for care related to gender transition; (2) Twenty-five percent of those who sought coverage for hormones in the past year were denied; (3) Fifty-five percent of those who sought coverage for transition-related surgery in the past year were denied; (4) Seventy-eight percent of respondents wanted hormone therapy related to gender transition, but only forty-nine percent had ever received it; (5) Forty-two percent reported that insurance covered only some of the surgical care needed for transition; and (6) Twenty-one percent reported that insurance covered transition-related surgery, but had no in-network providers; and WHEREAS, according to the American Medical Association, transgender individuals in the United States are three times more likely than the general population to report or be diagnosed with mental health disorders, with as many as 41.5 percent reporting at least one diagnosis of a mental health or substance abuse disorder; and WHEREAS, the increased prevalence of these mental health conditions is widely thought to be a consequence of minority stress, which is the chronic stress from coping with societal stigma and discrimination because of one's gender identity and expression; and WHEREAS, gender-based discrimination affecting access to services is a strong predictor of suicide risk among transgender persons; and WHEREAS, lack of access to gender-affirming care may directly contribute to poor mental health, and individuals with gender dysphoria who have undergone no gender confirmation treatment are twice as likely to experience moderate to severe depression and four times more likely to experience anxiety than their surgically-affirmed peers; and WHEREAS, improving access to gender-affirming care is an important means of improving health outcomes for the transgender population; and WHEREAS, patients who receive gender-affirming care, including surgical care, feel more congruent in their bodies and report improved mental health; and WHEREAS, studies suggest that improved body satisfaction and self-esteem following medical and surgical therapies is protective against poorer mental health and also supports healthy relationships with parents and peers; and WHEREAS, positive health effects from gender-affirming care extend to children and adolescents as well, and recent research demonstrates that integrated affirmative models of care for youths, which include access to medications and surgeries, result in fewer mental health concerns than have been historically seen among transgender populations; and WHEREAS, this body opposes the denial of health insurance coverage for certain types of health care treatments and services on the basis of gender identity; provided that a health insurance policy, contract, plan, or agreement covers those treatments and services for purposes other than gender transition; now, therefore, BE IT RESOLVED by the Senate of the Thirty-first Legislature of the State of Hawaii, Regular Session of 2021, that this body supports and urges the inclusion of gender transition treatments and services as medically necessary for the purposes of health care insurance coverage; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that the inclusion of such gender transition treatments and services as medically necessary for the purposes of health care insurance coverage is urged to include but not be limited to: (1) Hormone therapies; (2) Hysterectomies; (3) Mastectomies; (4) Vocal training; (5) Feminizing vaginoplasties; (6) Masculinizing phalloplasties; (7) Metaoidioplasties; (8) Breast augmentation; (9) Masculinizing chest surgeries; (10) Facial feminization surgeries; (11) Reduction thyroid chondroplasties; (12) Voice surgeries; (13) Laser hair removal; and (14) Smoking cessation therapies; and BE IT FURTHER RESOLVED that certified copies of this Resolution be transmitted to the Governor, Lieutenant Governor, Director of Health, Director of Commerce and Consumer Affairs, and Insurance Commissioner. OFFERED BY: _____________________________ Report Title: Gender Transition Services; Health Care Insurance Coverage