SB 1511 would hold insurance companies and healthcare providers who offer gender transition coverage and procedures accountable for providing equal treatment for individuals who choose to detransition back to their birth gender after having had their gender medically altered.
SB 1511 states that those insurers who provided coverage for gender transition “may not deny coverage for gender detransition procedures.” The bill also requires physicians and healthcare institutions performing gender transition services to provide gender detransition procedures.
After hearing the story of detransitioner Chloe Cole, Arizona Senator Janea Shamp (R-Surprise) said, “Chloe has inspired me to introduce legislation to ensure equal healthcare for children and adults who wish to detransition.”
In a recent Arizona House Health and Human Services Committee hearing, Senator Shamp highlighted the difficulties those who want to detransition have with insurance companies and healthcare providers. She specifically spoke of a man who “had begun the process of detransitioning” and that “Medicaid and insurance had paid for this young man to have breast implants.” Senator Shamp went on to explain that “soon after the surgery, he decided to detransition” but “was denied any coverage for the removal of the breast implants” when attempting to return to his birth gender. Shamp said she wanted to help people experiencing “insurance discrimination when detransitioning.”
Previously, in a February 1, 2024, press conference, Senator Shamp spoke of how the number of individuals choosing to detransition is growing but cited discrepancies in medical billing. Shamp commented that “the sad reality is that there are dozens of medical billing codes for gender-affirming care,” but none “for patients seeking to cease gender transition therapies” and that SB 1511 is “about having access to care for detransitioners which they don’t have at this point.”
Arizona Senate Democrats have criticized SB 1511 as anti-LGBTQ+ and say they “are disgusted by the continued attacks on our LGBTQ+ community and promise to keep fighting until every Arizonan is protected equally in the state.”
Other opponents of the bill claim that “mandating coverage for detransition costs undermines individuals’ access to gender-affirming care” and that requiring “insurers to disclose private patient information to government agencies” would violate patients’ privacy.
While the bill would ask health insurers to document claims for detransition services, the reports would only seek non-identifying information such as “the age and sex of the individual who received the gender detransition procedure” and the state and county of residence. “We need to make sure we are tracking the data so that we can help these people,” said Senator Shamp. “This is about taking care of people who need medical coverage.”
Supporters of the bill say the proposed legislation would help people who are suffering. Arizona Women of Action founder Kim Miller, who also spoke at the House Health and Human Services Committee hearing, said of SB 1511, “This is about compassion” and that it is important to “guarantee equal care for all hurting people in Arizona.”
SB 1511 passed in the House Sub-Committee and House Rules Committee and awaits further floor action.
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Debra McClure is a reporter at The Arizona Sun Times and The Star News Network. Follow Debra on X / Twitter.
Image “State Sen Janae” by State Senator Janea Shamp.
