In the latest move on the battleground that is transgender healthcare in Florida, one GOP senator wants to make employers who offer trans health coverage responsible for “transition reversal,” too.
Sen. Blaise Ingoglia, R-Spring Hill, proposed Monday the “Reverse Woke Act.” Under the bill, any company that offers its employees out-of-state travel for gender-affirming treatment must also pay for transition reversal if the employee wants it.
The requirement would apply whether the employee is still actively working for the company or not.
The bill comes in an effort to target, and ultimately punish, any companies that support or aid their employees seeking largely life-saving gender-affirming treatment.
“Woke businesses need to be held accountable when offering to pay for gender affirming surgeries in other states, such as California, because they are nothing more than political decisions masquerading as healthcare and human resource decisions,” Sen. Ingoglia said in a statement.
“Floridians should not be used as political pawns to advance a leftist agenda for the Governor of California. If these companies truly cared about their employees, this should be a no-brainer for them.”
At least 27 companies in Florida currently have pledged to pay for gender-affirming treatment and travel.
Employers who cover treatment costs, directly or through benefits, but refuse to cover reversal treatment will be subject to a civil action lawsuit for any damages incurred by the employee.
The proposal follows a recent move — in a long, long string of discriminatory anti-trans attacks — by the DeSantis administration to deny Medicaid coverage to people seeking treatments like hormone therapy and puberty blockers.
Also recently, the Florida Board of Medicine and the Florida Board of Osteopathic Medicine refused to scrap new rules that prohibit doctors from offering gender-affirming care to trans youths. The two boards’ decision came about despite dozens of trans folks’ pleas to reverse the bans.
Ingoglia’s “Reverse Woke Act” will be considered during the during the legislative session that starts March 7.
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