Although late last week Wisconsin suffered a loss for the protection of children when the Dane County Board of Supervisors declared the county to be a sanctuary for those identifying as transgender and non-binary, the state also experienced a victory when the state legislature’s joint finance committee passed a budget motion preventing Medicaid coverage of puberty blocking drugs and gender reassignment surgeries. The two-year state budget will soon be voted on by the full legislature and then sent to the governor.
This last-minute addition to the budget motions was most likely in reaction to Dane County’s sanctuary resolution as well as the one Milwaukee County will soon be considering. Since these drugs and procedures are totally elective and are definitely not health care, taxpayers should not have to pay for them through publicly funded programs such as Medicaid.
