ST. LOUIS (Legal Newsline) – A St. Louis hospital is fighting back against discrimination claims filed by an employee who complains her health plan won’t cover transition-related medical services for her son.
Angelia Scott’s September lawsuit says health insurance provided by St. Louis University Hospital won’t pay for her son’s gender dysphoria and gender reassignment and thus violates the Civil Rights Act.
But the hospital says the lawsuit fails to make proper claims under the Employee Retirement Income Security Act, which governs the health benefits at issue.
“Plaintiff clearly seeks to obtain benefits or change the scope of coverage under the plan and yet has not properly plead a claim under ERISA,” the motion to dismiss filed Dec. 1 lawsuit says.
“Plaintiff cannot circumvent the terms of the plan by instead pleading a claim under Title VII (of the Civil Rights Act) and the (Affordable Care Act).”
The hospital is a ministry of the Roman Catholic Church and says it is bound to follow the Ethical and Religious Directives for Catholic Health Care Services and the teachings of the church. The health plan offered excludes coverage for treatments that conflict with those teachings, like sex reassignment surgery.
The motion says she lacks standing to pursue the claims on behalf of her son.
“Rather all of her allegations center on her son’s experience: he was allegedly excluded from medically necessary care for the treatment of gender dysphoria because of his [the enrolled member’s] sex, he was allegedly denied coverage for necessary gender confirming health care because of his sex, and he was allegedly forced to either forego or delay medically necessary gender confirming health care,” the motion says.
“Although Ms. Scott frames these events as uniquely affecting her, she simply does not allege any concrete discrimination, exclusion, or denial that she personally faced as a result of the terms of the Hospital’s health care coverage.”