When the California Corrections Health Care Services said an inmate’s sex-reassignment surgery could cost taxpayers upwards of $100,000, critics of the decision were furious. On Thursday, District Court Judge Jon Tigar ordered California’s Mule Creek State Prison to allow inmate Michelle-Lael Norsworthy to undergo sex reassignment surgery. Immediately afterward, California Corrections spokesperson Joyce Hayhoe gave the figure of $100,000 when questioned by reporters.

The number mentioned by Hayhoe is more than three times the upper estimate for the treatment. When contacted by Vocativ, Hayhoe admitted that her initial figure was based on the top-tier rate of general (non-transition) medical care, and that her department has “not had time, of course, to determine the cost of [Norsworthy’s] treatment regiment.”

Norsworthy’s legal team, however, have. Male-to-female sex reassignment surgery within the U.S. ranges from $7,000 to $24,000 (female-to-male surgery is more expensive and can extend beyond $50,000). The Transgender Law Center, which has been working on the case, estimate that Norsworthy’s medical costs will be between $15,000 to $30,000.

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Moreover, Judge Tigar’s ruling is likely to reduce the costs caused by negative health consequences that come from denying treatment—Norsworthy has sustained liver damage from the longterm use of preoperative hormones. In 2012, the California Department of Insurance produced an economic impact assessment of gender non-discrimination in health insurance which found that providing care to transgender individuals saved money by reducing secondary medical issues, suicide attempts and their attendant costs.

“The important thing is, the state provides essential medical care to all other people being held in prison,” Kris Hayashi, Executive Director of the Transgender Law Center, told Vocativ. “With this historic ruling, the court has made it clear that prisons cannot single out transgender people to deny them the care their doctors say they need.”

Michelle-Lael Norsworthy

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Federal judge orders California prison inmate be granted sex change. (L.A. Times)