Transgender youth face national ban on medical care under rules expected today : Shots
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. and Medicare and Medicaid Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz (R) will announce new restrictions on gender-affirming care for minors on Thursday.
Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images
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Andrew Caballero-Reynolds/AFP via Getty Images
The Trump administration is expected to announce several measures Thursday that will essentially ban gender-affirming care for transgender youth, even in states where it is still legal.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will announce the measures at an 11 a.m. news conference at Department of Health and Human Services headquarters. Dr. Mehmet Oz, who heads the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid, Dr. Marty Makary, who heads the Food and Drug Administration, and Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, who heads the National Institutes of Health, will all be present at the press conference.
In October, NPR exclusively reported on two new proposed rules for hospitals that Oz is expected to announce Thursday. The first would prohibit doctors and hospitals from receiving federal Medicaid reimbursement for medical care provided to transgender patients under 18. The second would block all Medicaid and Medicare funding for any services at hospitals providing gender-affirming pediatric care. In the United States, Medicaid provides health care coverage to low-income children and adults. Medicare is the health program for Americans over 65 and people with disabilities. Virtually all hospitals in the country benefit from and rely on Medicare, so the rule would have a far-reaching effect.
Makary and Bhattacharya are also expected to make announcements about healthcare for transgender youth.
Legislative action
The turn to the topic of transgender minors comes a day after Republicans in the House of Representatives passed a package of health care bills that do not extend subsidies to people who purchase health insurance under Affordable Care Act plans.
The legislative package included a bill, introduced by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Green, R-Ga., that would make it a crime to provide gender-affirming care to transgender minors, punishable by a fine or prison time of up to 10 years. It happened Wednesday.
Another bill, introduced by Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, would ban Medicaid reimbursement for gender-affirming care for young people. His vote is scheduled for Thursday. Both bills would also need to pass the Senate to become law.
Supporters and opponents of transgender rights agree that, taken together, the upcoming hospital rules could make access to gender-affirming pediatric care across the country extremely difficult, if not impossible. Treatment is already banned in 27 states. The proposed rules will open a comment period after they are placed in the Federal Register; they will not take effect immediately.
This story will be updated later Thursday, following official announcements.
