Trump administration could cut hospital funding providing care for transgender youth in new proposal
The Department of Health and Human Services is proposing rules that could block payments and federal funding for hospitals providing gender-affirming care to minors
By Aaron Sugg
Transgender youth across the United States are under threat again, with new proposed limits on medical care, as the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has drafted initiatives for the Trump administration.
The proposals consist of concerning new rules that would restrict federal funding for gender-affirming treatments provided to minors.
According to documents obtained by NPR, the proposals would bar Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) from paying doctors and hospitals for any gender-affirming medical care provided to those under the age of 18 or 19.
The Department of Health and Human Services draft could cut funding to an entire hospital if it offers gender-affirming care to transgender youth
Another rule would go even further, cutting off all Medicare and Medicaid funding to an entire hospital that offers such care to minors, even if the services are paid for privately.
If enacted, these rules would effectively create a nationwide ban on gender-affirming care for youth, as most state-run hospitals rely heavily on federal funding.
From the executive order titled ‘Protecting Children From Chemical and Surgical Mutilation’, which Donald Trump signed in January on his first day in office, the administration stated that it would not “fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support” gender-affirming healthcare for trans children.
“Doctors are ‘maiming and sterilising a growing number of impressionable children'” – Donald Trump’s January executive order on trans youth
The executive order further stated: “It is the policy of the United States that it will not fund, sponsor, promote, assist, or support the so-called ‘transition’ of a child from one sex to another.”
The same release also stated: “Doctors are ‘maiming and sterilising a growing number of impressionable children under the radical and false claim that adults can change a child’s sex through a series of irreversible medical interventions.'”
From a statement from the Whitehouse a month later, the body wrote: “Hospitals around the country are taking action to downsize or eliminate their so-called ‘gender-affirming care’ programs.”
3.3% of youth in the US are transgender
According to a study conducted by the Williams Institute, around 724,000 youth aged 13 to 17 identify as transgender, making up about 3.3% of that age group.
Currently, 27 states already restrict or ban gender-affirming care for minors, including Texas, Florida, and Indiana, meaning about half of US states have passed laws affecting gender-affirming care for minors.
If the new federal proposals become law, experts warn that nearly all transgender youth in the US could lose access to care.
When will the HHS draft be released?
The public release of the proposed rules is expected in early November, followed by a period for public comment and likely court challenges. Until then, the future of transgender youth in the US remains uncertain.