A new battle has erupted in the war between the states and the federal government. A Virginia-based federal court last week ruled against states invoking gender-restriction laws to deny Medicaid coverage for some gender-related treatments to transgender residents.
If the case goes to the Supreme Court, and the court sides with the states, might this embolden officials in Texas and other conservative states to deny coverage to immigrants, even if they’re entitled to have it?
It’s a valid question. After all, the state already has denied coverage to many residents, including U.S. citizens in all demographic categories, by rejecting Medicaid expansion that was part of the Affordable Care Act. Might currently eligible immigrants lose access to government-funded health care under a state denial of services?
It could be a major issue for the Rio Grande Valley, where more than 1 in 4 residents were born in other countries and about one-third of all residents have Medicare coverage.