House health chair says anti-trans bill will worsen state's health-workforce shortage, chill doctors' dealings with young patients
Rep. Kim Moser voiced "grave concerns"
about House Bill 470. (Legislative photo) By Melissa PatrickKentucky Health News
A bill to ban gender-affirming treatment for Kentucky minors would worsen the state's health-care workforce shortage and chill family health providers who often are the first to provide mental health care for children, the chair of the House health committee said as the bill went to the Senate on a 75-22 vote Thursday.
"This proposal undermines everything that we're doing to increase our health-care workforce," Rep. Kim Moser, a Republican from Taylor Mill, told her colleagues. She told Kentucky Health News, "I just don't think that we should be in the business of legislating medical treatment."
Moser was one of three Republicans opposing House Bill 470, sponsored by Rep. Jennifer Decker, R-Waddy (Shelby County). The other opponents were Kim Banta of Fort Mitchell and Stephanie Dietz of Edgewood, also in Northern Kentucky.
Moser, a nurse by profession, warned against the bill's greatly extended 30-year window for lawsuits against a health-care provider who provides any gender-affirming care to a minor, including treatments that support gender transition. Currently, malpractice suits must be filed within one year.
"I just think that we're sending the wrong message in saying that on one hand, we value our health-care workers and we're working on legislation to improve our health-care workers situation, but o...
