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Blue Cross Can t Dodge Sex Bias Suit Over Gender Surgery
Law360 (May 5, 2021, 6:01 PM EDT) A Washington federal judge on Tuesday declined to let Blue Cross Blue Shield of Illinois escape claims that it unlawfully refused to cover a teen s gender reassignment surgery, saying the teen s family has launched plausible sex discrimination allegations against the insurer.
U.S. District Judge Robert Bryan said Washington resident Patricia Pritchard and her 15-year-old son raised viable claims that BCBSIL had violated the Affordable Care Act by enforcing a categorical coverage exclusion on medically necessary care for, or leading to, gender reassignment surgery in Pritchard s insurance policy. Judge Bryan also rejected the insurer s arguments that the family lacks standing and that.