Florida Senate - 2023                                     SB 952
       
       
        
       By Senator Ingoglia
       
       
       
       
       
       11-00444D-23                                           2023952__
    1                        A bill to be entitled                      
    2         An act relating to employer coverage of gender
    3         dysphoria treatment; providing a short title; creating
    4         s. 448.085, F.S.; defining terms; requiring employers
    5         that provide coverage of gender dysphoria treatment to
    6         also cover the full costs associated with treatment
    7         that reverses such gender dysphoria treatment,
    8         regardless of the rate of coverage provided for the
    9         initial treatment; providing that employees who
   10         receive gender dysphoria treatment through coverage
   11         provided by an employer are entitled to full coverage
   12         of total costs associated with treatment that reverses
   13         such gender dysphoria treatment under certain
   14         circumstances, regardless of whether they are still
   15         employed by that employer; providing construction;
   16         prohibiting employers from making coverage of the
   17         subsequent treatment contingent on whether the
   18         employee receives such treatment in this state;
   19         creating a right of action for aggrieved persons to
   20         recover actual total costs and damages from an
   21         employer or former employer, as applicable, under
   22         certain circumstances; providing an effective date.
   23          
   24  Be It Enacted by the Legislature of the State of Florida:
   25  
   26         Section 1. This act may be referred to as the “Reverse Woke
   27  Act.”
   28         Section 2. Section 448.085, Florida Statutes, is created to
   29  read:
   30         448.085 Coverage of gender dysphoria treatment.—
   31         (1) As used in this section, the term:
   32         (a) “Employee” means any individual who performs services
   33  for and under the direction and control of an employer for wages
   34  or other remuneration.
   35         (b) “Employer” means any individual, firm, partnership,
   36  institution, corporation, or association that employs two or
   37  more employees. The term includes governmental entities as
   38  defined in s. 768.38.
   39         (c) “Gender dysphoria treatment” means surgery, hormone
   40  replacement therapy, or any other procedure or treatment that
   41  assists persons with gender dysphoria in transitioning to their
   42  self-identified gender.
   43         (2) An employer that covers the cost, directly or through
   44  benefits, of gender dysphoria treatment for employees must also
   45  cover the total costs associated with treatment that reverses
   46  the gender dysphoria treatment, regardless of the rate of
   47  coverage provided for the initial treatment.
   48         (3) An employee who received gender dysphoria treatment
   49  through coverage provided by an employer is entitled to full
   50  coverage by that employer of the total costs associated with
   51  treatment that reverses gender dysphoria treatment if the
   52  employee later determines that the gender dysphoria treatment
   53  was not appropriate for him or her and wants to reverse the
   54  treatment, regardless of whether the person is currently
   55  employed by that same employer at the time of such
   56  determination.
   57         (4) An employer’s obligations under this section are not
   58  affected by whether the initial treatment is provided in this
   59  state, and an employer may not make coverage of subsequent
   60  treatment contingent on whether the employee receives such
   61  subsequent treatment in this state.
   62         (5) If an employer or former employer, as applicable,
   63  refuses to cover the total costs associated with treatment to
   64  reverse gender dysphoria treatment it initially covered for an
   65  employee, the employee entitled to such coverage under
   66  subsection (3) may file a civil action in a court of competent
   67  jurisdiction to recover from the employer or former employer, as
   68  applicable, the actual total costs associated with such
   69  treatment as well as any damages incurred by the person as a
   70  result of the employer’s noncompliance with this section.
   71         Section 3. This act shall take effect July 1, 2023.