If the U.S. Supreme Court upholds Tennessee’s ban on gender-affirming care for youth in a case before it this term (U.S. v. Skrmetti), some employers may explore providing travel benefits to enable participants to access types of health care prohibited by state law. They may also offer these benefits in circumstances where there is a plan-covered service unavailable within a certain geographic distance, experts say.

So far, “most of the state laws focused on gender-affirming care have targeted medical providers rather than insurance carriers or service providers for employer-sponsored coverage,” said Xavier Baker, an attorney with Groom Law Group in Washington, D.C.

“Employers face an increasingly complex and contentious environment when determining plan benefits, especially for gender-affirming care. Employers should be mindful that this remains an evolving legal environment.”

If the court rules for Tennessee, group health plans that want to provide travel benefits will need to do so cautiously, said Alden Bianchi, an attorney with McDermott Will & Emery in Boston. “Where abortion-related travel is concerned, employers have tended to adopt a broad-based travel policy that includes abortions,” he said. Following a Supreme Court decision in 2022 allowing states to restrict or end abortion access, some companies announced abortion-travel benefits. “Gender-affirming care would likely be treated in a similar fashion.”

Sarah Raaii, an attorney with McDermott Will &...

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