TAMPA, Fla. (WFLA) — Blaise Ingoglia (R-Spring Hill) has filed legislation that would require private businesses that offer coverage for gender dysphoria treatments to also pay for reversing those treatments, regardless of whether the employee was in Florida or not when they first transitioned.
Ingoglia filed Senate Bill 952, dubbed the “Reverse Woke Act” on Monday.
The legislation is for any employee who gets their health insurance from their place of work, be it “any individual, firm, partnership, institution, corporation, or association” with at least two employees.
If an employer covers the cost of gender dysphoria treatment for an employee, defined as “surgery, hormone replacement therapy, or any other procedure or treatment that assists persons with gender dysphoria in transitioning to their self-identified gender,” the employer would also be required to cover total costs associated with treatments that reverse it.
The bill text states that an employee who has undergone gender dysphoria treatment through insurance coverage from their employer is “entitled to full coverage by that employer of the total costs associated with treatment that reverses gender dysphoria treatment if the employee later determines that the gender dysphoria treatment was not appropriate for him or her and wants to reverse the treatment, regardless of whether the person is currently employed by that same employer at the time of such determination.”
Essentially, if you have a job that provides health insurance, and it is used to undergo treatment for gender dysphoria or gender transition, the employer will be liable for covering the costs of reversing that treatment, at the patients’ directive.
Patients can still seek coverage if they began transitioning outside of Florida, as long as they received the initial treatment while being insured by a company. The same company would have to pay for the reversal of the care under Ingoglia’s bill.
If a company refuses to cover those costs, employees can take civil action in court to recover the costs, as applicable, from the employer, as well as “any damages incurred’ due to an employer’s noncompliance with the proposed law. The bill’s name as the “Reverse Woke Act” was not included in the text, so WFLA.com reached out to Sen. Ingoglia for clarification.
“In my opinion, corporations who agree to pay for gender reaffirming surgeries in other states are exploiting the trans community for political purposes. This bill mandates these “woke corporations” pay for a reversal if they so choose,” Ingoglia told WFLA.com about the bill’s name.
The bill did not get into specifics about enforcement. If passed by the Florida legislature, it would take effect July 1.