ACLU-backed lawsuit claims San Francisco-based health system's denial of medically necessary care violates Civil Rights Act, Affordable Care Act.
A transgender nurse at Dignity Health is suing the San Francisco-based healthcare system for allegedly denying insurance coverage for medically necessary transition-related healthcare.
In a lawsuit filed in U.S. District Court in San Francisco, Josef Robinson, an operating room nurse at Chandler Regional Medical Center in Chandler, AZ, claims Dignity Health's insurance policy is discriminatory, contradicts medical standards and violates federal law.
The health system's refusal to provide insurance coverage for medically necessary transition-related care discriminates on the basis of sex, Robinson alleges, and is a violation of Title VII the Civil Rights Act and the Affordable Care Act.
"I was shocked when Dignity, which is supposed to be in the business of healing and holds itself out to the public as a bastion of 'human kindness,' told me they would not authorize insurance coverage for my doctor-prescribed treatment," Robinson said in prepared remarks.
"All I want is the same health benefits other, non-transgender Dignity employees receive, which is coverage for medically necessary treatments."
In response to the allegations, the health system said late Monday, "We have not received the lawsuit in question, and it is not our policy to comment on pending litigation."
Robinson said he was saddled with thousands of dollars in out-of-pocket expenses after Dignity denied his insurance coverage for gender dysphoria treatment.
He filed a discrimination charge with the Equal Employment Opportunity Commission, which said there was reasonable cause to believe that the Dignity Health insurance plan discriminates against Robinson on the basis of sex and authorized him to sue the health system, the ACLU said in a media release.
"Every major medical association has affirmed that transition-related health care for transgender people is medically necessary," Josh Block, an attorney with the ACLU LGBT & HIV Project, said in prepared remarks. "Under Title VII and the Affordable Care Act, these sorts of discriminatory insurance provisions are illegal in all 50 states."
Dignity Health, one of the largest health systems in the nation, operates 39 hospitals and more than 400 care centers in California, Nevada, and Arizona, has its corporate headquarters in San Francisco.