Texas enacted SB 1257 requiring plans that cover gender-transition care to also cover detransition and lifelong monitoring

On May 24, 2025, Texas Governor Greg Abbott signed Senate Bill 1257 into law, enacted during the 89th Legislature. The statute provides that any health benefit plan covering gender-transition procedures or treatments must also cover all adverse effects of that care, procedures to "detransition" or reverse it, and testing and annual physical and mental health screenings for the life of any enrollee who received transition-related treatment. The law took effect September 1, 2025 and applies to health plans delivered, issued, or renewed on or after January 1, 2026.

The bill was authored by state Sen. Bryan Hughes and sponsored in the House by Rep. Jeff Leach. LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations and insurance analysts said the coverage mandate singles out gender-transition care for a uniquely burdensome set of open-ended requirements imposed on no comparable treatment, and that its practical effect would be to raise the cost of plans covering that care to the point that insurers drop it — obstructing transgender Texans' access to treatment. Supporters described the law as ensuring that patients who experience harm from transition-related care would have coverage for its consequences.