Litigation nation: Trans health at the crossroads of policy and prejudice

A close look at a sex-discrimination case reveals how anti-trans momentum builds, as court challenges lead to a pivotal Supreme Court ruling

Supporters of transgender youth demonstrate outside Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, on Feb. 6, 2025, in the wake of President Donald Trump’s executive order threatening to pull federal funding from health care providers who offer gender-affirming care to children. Credit: ROBYN BECK/AFP via Getty Images

Despite her decades litigating class-action cases, Eleanor Hamburger never saw as much expert testimony as when she brought L.B. et al v. Premera Blue Cross to a district court in Washington state. The lawsuit alleged that health insurance company Premera, which operates in Washington and Alaska, discriminates against transgender minors by denying them coverage for gender-affirming care.

“I’ve been doing class-action work for 30 years and never had a case with the other side hiring seven experts,” Hamburger said. “It was incredibly over-litigated, and the experts were largely people who are affiliated with the effort to exclude trans folks from the health care that they need. That was shocking to me, to see Premera do that.”

“It strikes me because some decision-maker within Premera is prejudiced,” Hamburger continued. “It’s bigotry.”

Hamburger, Lambda Legal, and Denise Diskin formerly of QLaw Foundation of Washington filed suit in June 2023 for two trans teens fighting an insurance policy that barred coverage of their gender-affirming mastectomies.

This past April, the judge declared that Premera’s process to mostly reject trans adolescents’ claims for these surgeries is sex discrimination, a violation of federal law. Premera declined Prism’s interview request about the case, but the company’s director of brand and reputation, Courtney Wallace, said in an emailed statement: “Premera is currently reviewing the court’s decision and evaluating our options moving forward.

Premera takes our responsibilities under the Affordable Care Act seriously and strives to ensure that our policies comply with all applicable laws and regulations. We recognize the importance of this matter to our members and the broader community. We remain dedicated to supporting the health and well-being of all individuals we serve.”

Read more on the original article : https://prismreports.org/2025/06/16/transgender-health-trans-youth-skrmetti/