Washington State Passes Bill To Cover Some 12-Month Hormone Therapy Stockpiles

“The bill will alleviate a lot of suffering,” one Republican lawmaker said.

Jdtaylor428 // Wikimedia Commons

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Update: Washington State Democrats have informed me that Testosterone was also included in the bill, and although it did not get the 12-month refill period that estrogen did, it did receive an extension to 6 months for refills. The story has been updated to correct this.

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Washington State made history on Wednesday when it became the first state in the country to pass legislation increasing access to hormone therapy.

HB 1971 declares that health care plans who cover hormone treatments “must provide reimbursement for a 12-month refill of covered prescription hormone therapy obtained at one time by the enrollee,” unless a doctor prescribes otherwise or the hormone in question is a controlled substance. Testosterone, due to being a controlled substance, was extended from 3-month refills to 6-month refills.

The bill received bipartisan support in the State Senate, passing 40-9, including six Republicans. All nine votes against the bill were from the GOP.

Senator Keith Wagoner was one such Republican who voted in favor of HB 1971. He said he he was supporting the policy in spite of “fringes” online which had “inflamed” public debate by focusing squarely on the HRT’s association with trans-affirming care.

“That is such a small part of what this bill does,” Wagoner told the Senate. He said he was speaking out in part because his own daughter relies on hormone therapy. As a survivor of brain cancer, which impacted her pituitary gland, she will likely be taking hormones for the rest of her life. The current timeframe for receiving hormones, which may limit people to a six-month, three-month or one-month supply, is a constant stressor for his family, he said.

“The bill will alleviate a lot of suffering,” Wagoner concluded.

In a press release, Planned Parenthood Alliance Advocates lauded Washington as the first state in the country to pass legislation improving access to hormone therapies. While President Donald Trump has called HRT “chemical [...] mutilation” as part of his broader war on “gender ideology,” it is mostly used for menopause, polycystic ovary syndrome (PCOS), hyperandrogenism, and cancer survivors.

Courtney Normand, the Washington State Director of PPAA, said in a statement that HB 1971 would help marginalized groups who otherwise struggle to access health care. “This bill is especially critical for our rural neighbors, those without transportation, people working multiple jobs, communities with low incomes or without wealth, and those who have long faced systemic discrimination,” she said.

The bill is also a welcome protection for the growing number of trans people being targeted by the government.

“Every day we fear losing access to gender affirming hormone therapy, and many are already rationing medication to build a reserve, myself included,” said Jenna Comstock, who sits on the board of directors for Washington’s LGBTQ Bar Association, during a prior hearing on the bill. “Requiring health plans to provide hormone coverage to reimburse 12-month refills would help trans Washingtonians secure access to their medications, mitigating some harms of this uncertain political climate.”