This one is mostly for H: Prisoner sues for right to sex change
The department has been providing Konitzer, 40, with hormone therapy to stimulate female development since 1999 but will not allow genital surgery. Konitzer claims a prison doctor said the surgery would follow the hormone treatments, and the refusal to follow through violates the Eighth Amendment protection against cruel and unusual punishment. However, department policy prohibits the surgery. Konitzer, who looks female because of the hormones, also objects to being housed in male prisons, where male guards do the strip searches and male inmates share communal showers. Konitzer is not allowed to wear a bra or women's clothing.
Personally, I'm a bit surprised they are providing the hormone treatment. It's a recent change in policy, though, so there you go.
I guess, ultimately, if it's something an HMO would cover (which I'm not sure would be the case), and Konitzer passes all the requirements he(she) would be required to pass if he(she) wasn't in prison, the state should probably cover it.
The best part fo the article, for me, is how Konitzer ended up in the big house:
"I stabbed the guy with a homemade ice pick," Konitzer said. "I'm pretty ashamed of that."