WARNER ROBINS, Ga. — The legal battle between Houston County and an investigator for the sheriff’s office could come back to court if the county gets its way.
Houston County is asking the full 11th Circuit Court of Appeals to rehear a case involving transgender sheriff deputy Anna Lange. She sued the county for denying health care coverage for their gender reassignment surgery.
In May, a panel of federal judges ruled a provision in the county’s health insurance policy discriminated against transgender employees
The county’s insurance policy explicitly denied coverage for "services and supplies for a sex change and/or reversal of a sex change” and “drugs for sex change surgery.”
In a 2-1 decision, the judges found this exclusion essentially denied coverage for “medically necessary” care only because Lange is transgender. They said that was “facially discriminatory” and against the law.
"By drawing a line between gender-affirming surgery and other operations, the plan intentionally carves out an exclusion based on one's transgender status," the federal appeals court found. "Lange's sex is inextricably tied to the denial of coverage for gender-affirming coverage."
The appeal marks another twist in the multi-year legal saga. According to Lange's attorneys, since they first filed the lawsuit in 2019, Houston County has paid over a million dollars fighting this lawsuit.
The 11th Circuit upheld the 2022 decision of the Macon-based U.S. Middle District of Georgia. The judge in Macon also found the policy was discriminatory, and a jury ordered the county to pay Lange $60,000 in damages.
But on Monday, Houston County filed another appeal in the 11th Circuit hoping to reverse the court's May decision.
Houston County argues the judges incorrectly interpreted federal discrimination laws and previous court decisions, and they want all 12 judges in the 11th Circuit to hear the case.
They argue the exclusion is not discriminatory since it's about a specific treatment and not a protected characteristic, the lawsuit says.
“This shows that coverage depends on the treatment requested, not who is requesting it,” the county’s attorneys wrote. “Accordingly, the Health Plan exclusions do not discriminate because of sex or transgender status.”
In the previous case before the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals, the U.S. Department of Justice joined the case and sided with Lange's attorney that the exclusion was discriminatory.
"Thus, given the 'undisputed' fact that the challenged provisions of the plan deny coverage 'only for transgender members,' the court held that the plan facially discriminates based on sex," the DOJ wrote.
In the decision, the majority of the 11th Circuit Court of Appeals judges who heard the case agreed with the DOJ and Lange's attorneys.
"Because transgender persons are the only plan participants who qualify for gender-affirming surgery, the plan denies health care coverage based on transgender status," the federal appeals court ruled.
Lange had worked for the sheriff’s office since 2006 but then transitioned from male to female in 2017. After pushing the procedure back, four of Lange’s doctors recommended the “medically necessary” surgery.
Because the procedure would cost $20,000, Lange asked the county’s health insurance provider BlueCross BlueShield to cover it. However, according to the DOJ, the insurance company originally approved the procedure because it met their guidelines for medically necessary care.
But after the county pointed to the exclusion, the insurance company denied Lange’s request.
In the 11th Circuit’s decision, the judges said the county could no longer enforce the exclusion for gender-affirming surgery.
Now, Houston County wants all 12 judges on the 11th Circuit to reconsider their original decision and rehear the case.