Senate Bill 904 was one of several measures introduced this session focusing on restricting gender-affirming care. It prevents the state Medicaid program, or SoonerCare, from covering it, and bars public funds from being used to provide or subsidize it. State property, facilities and buildings also can’t be used to deliver this care. [...]
SB 904 was filed during last year’s legislative session as a measure establishing criteria for incentive payments to contracted Medicaid long-term care providers. Sen. Todd Gollihare, R-Kellyville, submitted an amendment in March to replace the language with his bill on gender-affirming care.
Affected services include surgical procedures to alter or remove physical or anatomical characteristics “that are typical for the individual’s biological sex” and drugs used to suppress or delay puberty, or to promote the development of feminizing or masculinizing features “consistent with the opposite biological sex.”
Exclusions apply to things like behavioral health services and depression or anxiety medications, and individuals with differences in sex development[*]. People who violate the law can be charged with a misdemeanor. [...]
That impact is being felt in the limited spaces statewide that offer gender-affirming care. Lily Pina is the family nurse practitioner at the Oklahomans for Equality Health Clinic. The clinic is one of the newer arms of the nonprofit organization, which has served the LGBTQ+ community since the 80s.
It offers several services, including gender-affirming hormone therapy. The clinic is fully credentialed with Blue Cross Blue Shield, and its lab is credentialed with all insurances. It also accepts self-pay patients. But Medicaid is no longer an option.
LGBTQ+ adults are twice as likely as non-LGBTQ+ adults to rely on Medicaid as their primary health insurance source.
“We've definitely had an influx of patients needing to transfer their care because their current provider couldn't continue to provide their transgender services,” Pina said June 3. “So, as of right now, we're booked out for the next five weeks.”
Hailey Briggs, the executive director of Oklahomans for Equality, added that OU was quick to reach out the day after the legislation passed to ensure its patients could continue to access care.
Briggs said the “intentionally vague” language has left a lot up to interpretation for providers.
“There are a lot of medical institutions that are publicly funded in some way, and so how those institutions are interpreting this legislation has a big impact on who we're seeing,” Briggs said.
Oklahomans for Equality currently has a fundraising campaign to support patient assistance and is working to stretch its resources to serve more people.
