Aetna Ordered to Reconsider Transgender Care Coverage Denials

Two transgender women accusing Aetna Life Insurance Co. of unlawful sex discrimination secured a court order blocking the insurer from applying an internal guideline treating gender-affirming facial reconstruction as cosmetic and thus not covered.

Judge Victor A. Bolden on Sunday granted the patients’ request for a preliminary injunction requiring the insurer to set aside this rule in the course of considering their claims. Bolden, who sits in the US District Court for the District of Connecticut, instructed the insurer to approve these patients’ procedures if they qualify as medically necessary.

Aetna said no injunction was needed because ...