(Texas Scorecard) – Gov. Greg Abbott signed a measure requiring health insurance companies that provide coverage for gender mutilating surgeries to also cover the costs incurred by complications and reversals.
Senate Bill 1257, authored by State Sen. Bryan Hughes (R–Mineola), expands the Texas Insurance Code to require that health benefit plans that cover gender mutilation surgeries also cover care for any adverse effects or reversals. This includes annual testing or screening to monitor a patient’s mental and physical health and procedures or treatments to reverse gender mutilation procedures.
The new law applies to almost all private and government health benefit plans and to all Texas residents, regardless of where the policy was originally issued.
“The signing of SB 1257 marks a righteous course correction in a culture that has lost its way,” Brady Gray, president of Texas Family Project, told Texas Scorecard. “As Christians, we believe every person is made in the image of God, male and female, and that truth cannot be rewritten by ideology or emotional manipulation.”
“This law ensures that those who were misled and harmed by the false promises of gender ideology will no longer be abandoned in their pain. It is a compassionate and just response to a deep injustice, and a reminder that Texas still has the courage to stand for truth and protect the vulnerable,” added Gray.
Texas Values Director of Policy Jonathan Covey also praised the signing of the measure, calling it “crucial” for helping individuals detransition, allowing them access to medical procedures and necessary care that aligns with their biological sex.
Additionally, SB 1257 requires that this coverage be available to an enrollee regardless of whether the individual was enrolled in the health benefit plan at the time of the procedure or treatment.
The law will take effect on September 1, 2025 and only applies to health benefit plans issued, delivered, or renewed on or after January 1, 2026.