“Transition-related health care is essential health care, full stop. Our clients are delighted that the State of Alaska has, at long last, recognized that fact.”
A federal district court today ruled in favor of Lambda Legal client Jennifer Fletcher and ordered that the State of Alaska’s denial of health care coverage to a legislative librarian based on its blanket exclusion of medically necessary transition-related surgical treatment from AlaskaCare, the state employee health care plan, is unlawful sex discrimination that violates federal law.
Lambda Legal today urged the U.S. District Court for the District of Alaska to end the State of Alaska’s blanket exclusion of medically necessary transition-related surgical treatment from AlaskaCare, the state employee health care plan, and to obtain relief for Jennifer Fletcher, a state legislative librarian, who was forced to pay out of pocket for her medical treatment.
Lambda Legal this morning filed a federal lawsuit against the State of Alaska on behalf of Jennifer Fletcher, a state legislative librarian who was forced to pay out-of-pocket for medically necessary surgical treatment because the state health insurance plan prohibits such coverage only for transgender state employees.
It’s only Thursday and already so much has happened since Monday, when the Supreme Court announced that it would not take up cases from Indiana, Oklahoma, Utah, Virginia and Wisconsin that struck down state bans on marriage for same-sex couples — making it possible for same-sex couples to begin marrying in those five states.
The U.S. Supreme Court today allowed marriage case decisions from the Seventh Circuit, Fourth Circuit and Tenth Circuit Courts of Appeal to stand meaning that same-sex couples in five more states Indiana, Wisconsin, Virginia, Utah and Oklahoma will be able to marry – perhaps as soon as later today.
The Alaska Supreme Court today ruled unanimously that the same-sex partner of a person killed on the job should have access to the protection of Alaska’s workers’ compensation law.
Lambda Legal urged the Alaska Supreme Court today to grant access to survivor benefits for Deborah Harris, the same-sex partner of Kerry Fadely, who was shot and killed in 2011 by a disgruntled former employee.
Lambda Legal filed a brief with the Alaska Supreme Court asking the Court to hold that it is unconstitutional to deny survivor benefits to Deborah Harris, whose same-sex partner, Kerry Fadely, was shot and killed in 2011 by a disgruntled former employee.