As part of a settlement, Georgia's health-insurance plan will now cover state employees after the state agreed to a $365,000 court settlement with three employees, according to several media outlets, including The Georgia Reporter.
Co-plaintiff Benjamin Johnson said, "When I was able to get the medical treatment I needed, I finally felt whole. I feel like this is the person I was meant to be, and my mental health has improved drastically. I hope that this settlement means that other trans Georgia state employees can feel the joy and relief I have felt having gotten the medical treatments that I needed.
Johnson, who was an elementary school media clerk, filed suit in December 2022 alongside staff accountant Micah Rich and an anonymous state employee whose young adult child was enrolled in the state plan.
The Transgender Legal Defense and Education Fund, or TLDEF, and Bondurant Mixson & Ellmore LLP represented the plaintiffs. The settlement will be split among the three state employee plaintiffs, the anonymous plaintiff's child and the pro-LGBTQ+ group Campaign for Southern Equality.
Also, according to The Advocate, Anthem-operated plans will remove the exclusion for "services and supplies for a sex change and/or the reversal of a sex change." (Anthem includes Blue Cross and Blue Shield of Georgia.) In addition, United-operated plans will remove the exclusion for "sex-transformation operations and related services."
The health plan covers about 660,000 people, including employees of public schools and their families.
Andrew Davis