Trump administration abandons hospital funding cuts threats to trans youth
After receiving more than 30,000 public comments opposing the funding cut threats, the Department of Health and Human Services has withdrawn its proposal
By Aaron Sugg
Donald Trump‘s administration has abandoned a proposed rule that would have threatened hospitals’ Medicare and Medicaid funding if they provided gender-affirming care to transgender youth.
First introduced by the Department of Health and Human Services in December 2025, the funding threat never took effect after receiving more than 30,000 public comments opposing it.
Around 20,000 comments came from Human Rights Campaign (HRC) members and supporters, while major medical organisations, including the American Medical Association, the American Academy of Pediatrics, and the Children’s Hospital Association, also urged the administration to abandon the rule.
724,000 US teenagers aged 13–17 identify as transgender
According to the HRC, there are 2.1 million US adults who identify as transgender, while 724,000 US teenagers aged 13–17 identify as transgender. The organisation also states that 26 states have enacted bans on gender-affirming healthcare for transgender youth.
The HHS originally proposed that hospitals receiving Medicare and Medicaid funding should not provide what it called “sex-rejecting procedures” to minors. HHS stated at the time that the rule was intended to prevent what officials described as harmful interventions for children.
If hospitals did not comply with the proposed policy, they could have lost all Medicare and Medicaid funding for providing gender-affirming healthcare to transgender youth.
Robert F. Kennedy Jr. described gender-affirming care as “unsafe, irreversible practices”
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said when announcing the original proposal: “Under my leadership, and answering President Trump’s call to action, the federal government will do everything in its power to stop unsafe, irreversible practices that put our children at risk.”
In light of the withdrawal, former HHS and White House legal official Sam Bagenstos explained that agencies sometimes abandon proposals when public feedback exposes weaknesses.
Speaking to The Advocate, he said: “Sometimes the comments come in, and it’s just overwhelmingly clear that the rule that they want to propose is indefensible. And so an agency says, ‘We’re just not going to go forward with this and waste everybody’s time, including waste our own time losing lawsuits.’”
“It takes an avalanche of outrage to stop this administration” – Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson on Trump’s gender-affirming care cuts
Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson welcomed the rollback, though stressed that it did not come without a wave of “outrage” from the community.
“It takes an avalanche of outrage to stop this administration from doing harm to innocent people, and together, we the people delivered to protect transgender youth across the country,” she said, as per the the official Human Rights Campaign website.
“Together, we have stopped Donald Trump and RFK Jr., this time, from imposing their malignant will in every doctor’s office and home when it comes to what is the right and appropriate treatment for trans people – decisions that should be left up to medical professionals, the patients themselves, and their loved ones.”
“Make no mistake, this is a reprieve, not a victory, and only for some. There are still many states that ban life-saving healthcare care for political reasons, and too many medical facilities complying in advance that weren’t required to. But this is a reminder of our movement’s power to fight back, speak up, and win.”