Supreme Court Report

Supreme Court of the United States · Official docket →

William Crouch, in His Official Capacity as Cabinet Secretary of the West Virginia Department of Health and Human Resources, et al. v. Shauntae Anderson, Individually and on Behalf of All Others Similarly Situated

Paid petition · United States Court of Appeals for the Fourth Circuit, No. 22-1927 · judgment April 29, 2024


GVR'd · June 30, 2025
Pre-decision estimate: 17% cert probability (95% interval 10%–26%)

Before the decision, about 4.1× the 4.1% base rate. The model weighted this up for a federal-government petitioner, counsel with five or more prior petitions here, and a petition filed soon after the judgment below.

Questions presented

Based on concerns like cost and effectiveness, West Virginia Medicaid excluded coverage for certain surgeries that treat gender dysphoria. It continued to cover other kinds of gender-dysphoria treatments. West Virginia never asked whether a patient was transgender in making any coverage decisions. A group of Medicaid beneficiaries brought a classaction suit challenging the surgery exclusion. A divided 8- 6 en banc Fourth Circuit ultimately decided that West Virginia’s surgical exclusion violated the Equal Protection Clause, the Medicaid Act, and the Affordable Care Act’s non-discrimination provision. West Virginia Medicaid must now pay for surgical treatments for gender dysphoria. The questions presented are:

  1. Whether West Virginia violated the Equal Protection Clause by declining to cover surgical treatments for gender dysphoria; and

  2. Whether West Virginia violated the Medicaid Act and the Affordable Care Act by declining to cover surgical treatments for gender dysphoria.

Counsel of record

For petitioner
Michael Ray Williams
Office of the West Virginia Attorney General

For respondent
Tara L. Borelli
Lambda Legal Defense and Education Fund, Inc.

Case

Conference history
Distributed for 2 conferences

Amicus briefs
4 cert-stage

Related
Vide, 24-99

Proceedings

  1. Aug 01 2025
    Judgment Issued.
  2. Jun 30 2025
    Petition GRANTED. Judgment VACATED and case REMANDED for further consideration in light of United States v. Skrmetti, 605 U. S. ___ (2025).
  3. Jun 23 2025
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 6/26/2025.
  4. Nov 13 2024
    DISTRIBUTED for Conference of 12/6/2024.
  5. Nov 12 2024
    Reply of petitioners William Crouch, et al. filed. (Distributed)
  6. Oct 28 2024
    Brief of respondents Shauntae Anderson, et al. in opposition filed. VIDED.
  7. Aug 28 2024
    Brief amicus curiae of Ethics and Public Policy Center filed.
  8. Aug 28 2024
    Brief amicus curiae of The American Civil Rights Project filed.
  9. Aug 28 2024
    Brief amici curiae of America's Future, et al. filed.
  10. Aug 26 2024
    Brief amici curiae of Missouri, et al. filed. VIDED.
  11. Aug 16 2024
    Motion to extend the time to file a response is granted and the time is extended to and including October 28, 2024.
  12. Aug 14 2024
    Motion to extend the time to file a response from August 28, 2024 to October 28, 2024, submitted to The Clerk.
  13. Jul 25 2024
    Petition for a writ of certiorari filed. (Response due August 28, 2024)