New Lawsuit Means Georgia Must Pay for Gender Equitable Health Care for State Employees and Families – WSB-TV Channel 2

ATLANTA (AP) — Some members of the Atlanta City Council want police to deprioritize enforcing Georgia's transgender children's health law.

A federal judge is allowing this law to remain in effect pending a trial.

However, a new rule means the state of Georgia must offer gender-inclusive health care to its own employees.

Channel 2 Action News was there last December when Micah Rich announced he was suing the state of Georgia for employing him as an accountant.

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The health insurance plan for state employees excluded all forms of transgender-related health care, which Rich and two other employees called unconstitutional.

“Because I am transgender, I have been denied medical treatments that my doctors and I mutually agreed were necessary,” Rich said.

But in an agreement reached last week, the state of Georgia must include transgender health care in its health benefits package for state employees and their families.

But transgender child health care remains illegal under a law passed in Georgia last year.

Rich's attorney, David Brown, points out that under Georgia's employee benefit plan, the state would have to pay if an employee takes their child out of state for gender-affirming care.

“And say again how fortunate we are that transgender people in the state can receive health care without fear of discrimination from the state if they work for the state,” Brown said.

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Atlanta City Council member Liliana Bakhtiari is trying to get this resolution passed.

It would direct police to give the lowest priority to enforcing this transgender health law, which would essentially be a green light for parents seeking care for their transgender children.

“We see again and again how governments interfere in their own four walls. There are all sorts of attacks on our children. “This law has taken away parents’ ability to determine what is best for their children,” Bakhtiari said.

The state's attorney general's office sent Channel 2 a statement saying this settlement will have no impact on the transgender children's health law and that they will continue to fight for the health and well-being of Georgia's children.

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