Transgender Woman Seeks Coverage Under ACA

A transgender woman recently filed a complaint in the U.S. District Court for the Central District of Illinois against her primary care physician, as well as the not-for-profit health-care clinic with which her physician is affiliated, for alleged violation of the anti-discrimination provision of the Affordable Care Act (ACA). Taylor v. Lystila, No. 14-cv-2072 (C.D. Ill.). According to the complaint, plaintiff began self-administering hormones that she had purchased on the internet in early 2013. Thereafter, plaintiff's physician allegedly refused to monitor her hormone levels or provide any sort of long-term transition-related treatment. Plaintiff claims to have been told by the clinic that it was not obligated "to treat people like you."