President Donald Trump announced Tuesday evening that Medicaid will no longer fund gender transition surgeries and gender-affirming care for minors. He stated the decision is intended to protect American children from irreversible harm.
Trump revealed he directed Dr Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, to implement the new policy. The president announced the change on Truth Social while criticizing the Democratic Party ahead of the November midterm elections.
Trump wrote on Truth Social: "We are not going to pay four our innocent children to undergo these barbaric surgeries and practices, which result in unthinkable and irreversible harm to their young bodies." He noted that a number of hospitals across the US have already stopped performing the procedures.
"Just think about all of the young, innocent and perhaps confused children who will be spared," Trump continued as he hailed the policy. Taking aim at Democrats, he wrote: "While the Dumocrat Party wants your kids to be able to chop off their reproductive organs before they are old enough to vote, President Donald J Trump (ME!) and the Republican Party say that is ABSURD and we will protect America's children."
"Please remember this when you are casting your vote in the Midterm Elections in November," the president urged.
New Policy Details and Administration Arguments
Under the new rule, federal Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) funds would no longer cover treatments including puberty blockers, hormones and gender-affirming surgeries, among other care. The Medicaid policy is set to take effect October 13, though state funds could still be used to help cover the treatments.
Trump's statement came after the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) announced the change. Dr Mehmet Oz unveiled the new policy at a press conference on Tuesday.
"Children deserve our protection, not experimental interventions that pose serious risks and convey no proven benefits," CMS boss Dr Oz said in a statement.
"By cutting off federal funds for these sex-rejecting procedures we're following the science, saving taxpayer dollars, and, most importantly, protecting children from potentially irreversible harm so they can truly flourish," Dr Oz added.
Data on Gender-Affirming Care for Minors
At least 27 states have moved to restrict gender-affirming care for children, according to health policy organization KFF. Gender-affirming surgeries, procedures intended to align a person's physical characteristics with their gender identity, are rare among minors.
A medical study published last year in JAMA Pediatrics analyzed a large insurance claims database covering more than five million patients between the ages of eight and 17. The study found that fewer than one in 1,000 US adolescents received puberty blockers or hormones over a recent five-year period.
Just 926 adolescents with a gender-related diagnosis received puberty blockers between 2018 and 2022, while 1,927 received hormones. Together, the treatments were prescribed to fewer than 0.1 percent of all youth in the database.
"We are not seeing inappropriate use of this sort of care," said study author Landon Hughes, a public health researcher at Harvard University. "And it's certainly not happening at the rate at which people often think it is."
"I hope that our paper cools heads on this issue and ensures that the public is getting a true sense of the number of people who are accessing this care," Hughes said at the time.
Reaction from LGBTQ+ Civil Rights Groups
The Human Rights Campaign (HRC), the nation's largest LGBTQ+ civil rights organization, hit back at the funding cuts. HRC President Kelley Robinson said: "Every young person is entitled to the health care that they, their parents, and their medical providers agree that they need, without politicians interfering with these important and highly personal decisions."
"And yet, rather than working to make healthcare more affordable and accessible, the Trump administration continues to obsess over the healthcare needs of trans youth, this time by cutting off health insurance coverage," Robinson added. "The Trump administration is terrorizing trans youth and their families with these kinds of actions, and it has to stop."
