Since the passage of the Affordable Care Act (ACA), there has been significant litigation about it. The U.S. Supreme Court famously dealt with the ACA’s individual mandate, and federal circuit and district courts have heard hundreds of lawsuits about the ACA, ranging from coverage of preexisting conditions to the refundable premium tax credit.
One area of increasing ACA-related litigation—and diverging circuit court opinions—is litigation about the rules against discrimination when providing health care. Specifically, courts across the country are addressing litigation challenging measures taken to limit or eliminate health care for transgender individuals. Litigators addressing such disputes must incorporate into their arguments not only the complex legislative history behind the ACA but also a growing number of transition-related lawsuits.