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Medicaid To Cover Trans Surgery In Illinois

Heartland Alliance

Gov. J.B. Pritzker says Illinois will begin covering gender reassignment surgeries under Medicaid.

Most states  provide health care related to gender-transition.  Illinois was one of last 10 holdouts. 

That's according to Dr. Magda Houlbergcof Howard Brown Health Care, which is the largest LGBTQ health care system in the Midwest.

Houlberg said the exclusion discriminates again trans and gender-nonconforming people in violation of Affordable Care Act guidelines.

“Illinois really took a leadership role in doing this. This is a  huge step forward for trans health.”

Houlberg says an estimate shows there are about  4,000 to  10,000 trans people in Illinois who could be helped under the new guidelines, set to take effect this summer.

Maureen Foertsch McKinney is news editor and equity and justice beat reporter for NPR Illinois, where she has been on the staff since 2014 after Illinois Issues magazine’s merger with the station. She joined the magazine’s staff in 1998 as projects editor and became managing editor in 2003. Prior to coming to the University of Illinois Springfield, she was an education reporter and copy editor at three local newspapers, including the suburban Chicago Daily Herald, She has a bachelor’s degree in journalism from Eastern Illinois University and a master’s degree in English from UIS.
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