Medicaid surgery dispute moot

DES MOINES, Iowa — The Iowa Supreme Court declared moot the state’s appeal of a trial court decision that held unconstitutional Iowa’s denial of Medicaid coverage of gender-affirming surgery for two transgender Iowans. Because the state ahs already paid to cover their surgeries, the appeal is ultimately a request “for an advisory opinion on what is now an academic question of constitutional law,” which the court declines to answer.