Two of the bills, House bill 495 and Senate Bill 2, targeted gender affirming care. HB 495 primarily reverses the governor's ban on conversion therapy for minors, but a committee substitute was added last week which prohibits Medicaid coverage of gender affirming hormone therapy or surgery.
Senate Bill 2 prohibits the same for incarcerated people, with supporters arguing that care should be provided only on the grounds of medical necessity. Gender affirming care is recognized as the treatment for gender dysphoria by every major medical association in the United States.
House Bill 695 proposes to increase transparency and streamline the state’s Medicaid program. The bill creates a Medicaid Oversight and Advisory Board and adds a requirement for prior authorization of mental health services. Senator Christian McDaniel says those measures serve to protect vulnerable populations from abuse and to make sure the money being invested in Medicaid is used appropriately.
“In Medicaid benefits alone, we spend more federal dollars in the Commonwealth than we spend general fund dollars in the entirety of the state budget,” said McDaniel.
Late Friday night, a Senate Substitute proposed changes to the 27-page bill - including a work requirement for able-bodied adults without dependents. Senator Cassie Chambers Armstrong spoke against it.
“What we have seen in states that have implemented these work requirements is that thousands of people lose healthcare not because they’re not eligible, not because they’re not working, but because they don’t fill out the form,” said Chambers Armstrong. “They lose their healthcare coverage, their health suffers, and sometimes - not all the time - sometimes, people die.”
All three bills passed just before the start of the governor’s ten-day veto period. That means, even if the governor rejects them, legislature can overrule him when they return on Thursday, March 27th for the final two days of the 2025 legislative session.