TALLAHASSEE — A federal judge late Wednesday blocked a new Biden administration health care rule that would clash with Florida’s attempts to restrict treatments such as hormone therapy and puberty blockers for transgender people. Tampa-based U.S.
District Judge William Jung issued a 50-page decision granting a preliminary injunction to prevent the rule from taking effect in Florida. He wrote that Florida has “shown that it faces an imminent injury,” with plaintiffs including the state Agency for Health Care Administration, which runs the Medicaid program, and the state Department of Management Services, which manages the state-employee health insurance program. “The plaintiff agencies and the healthcare providers they regulate must either clearly violate Florida law, or clearly violate the new rule,” Jung wrote.
The rule, which was scheduled to take effect Friday, is designed to help carry out a federal law that prevents discrimination in health-care programs that receive federal money. The law prevents discrimination based on “sex,” and the rule would apply that to include discrimination based on gender identity. The state filed the lawsuit against the U.
S. Department of Health and Human Services and the federal Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services on May 6, shortly after the rule was finalized. Fired employee: Osceola sheriff leered at nude photo rather than disciplining deputy who shared it Meanwhile, a Mississippi federal judge on Wednesday also issued.