http://www.scpr.org/news/2016/10/07/65331/transgender-man-s-suit-is-latest-clash-over-cathol/

Josef Robinson was born a woman; he started the process of becoming a man about two and a half years ago. He began hormone therapy and planned to undergo a bilateral mastectomy as well.

But Robinson, a registered nurse at a Dignity Health facility in Arizona, got some surprising news: His San Francisco-based employer, which describes itself as being “rooted in the Catholic tradition,” refused to cover any of his transition-related care under its employee health insurance plan. His policy excludes all coverage related to sex transformation surgery.

That “was totally shocking to me,” said Robinson. “I never would have thought in a million years that that would happen.”

Robinson sued Dignity, alleging that its refusal to cover transition-related care qualifies as sex discrimination under Title VII of the Civil Rights Act of 1964 and the Affordable Care Act.

Title VII forbids discrimination on the basis of sex. The Affordable Care Act prohibits discrimination based on sex in health insurance and health care. Section 1557 of the law, which the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services finalized in May, says categorical exclusions related to gender transitions are discriminatory.

“I work for a hospital who treats all kinds of people – doesn’t matter race, religion, whatever – yet they have an insurance policy that has an exclusion for transgender individuals,” Robinson said. “It just doesn’t add up for me.”