Trump admin tells states to stop Medicaid for trans minors

Trump The administration has reduced its opposition campaign Transgender People by targeting them health care On Friday, we will issue a new federal letter designed to help states eliminate Medicaid compensation for gender-affirming care for minors. It is the administration’s latest move in a relentless effort to remove trans people from public life.

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lettersent to Medicaid supervisors nationwide on Friday by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, warning that treatments such as adolescent blockers, hormone therapy and specific surgeries for transgender youth could violate federal Medicaid regulations. It explicitly cites regulations prohibiting sterilization procedures for people under the age of 21. This has been historically used in procedures such as fallopian tube ligation rather than medical care for trans youth.

In the letter, the CMS stated that its purpose is “to ensure that state Medicaid agencies are aware of an increase in evidence regarding the specific procedures provided to children, and to remind the state of their responsibility to ensure that Medicaid payments are consistent with the quality of care and that the covered services are delivered in a manner consistent with the recipient’s best benefits.”

CMS did not respond SupportersRequest a comment.

Adrian Shanker was a senior health and human service official under the president. Joe BidenI said Supporters This letter will move forward by misusing Medicaid regulations Political An agenda targeting trans people.

“I don’t think this letter is using these regulations in good faith,” Shanker said. “This letter uses a highly politicized language that is not based on a mountain of evidence supporting the underlying health and well-being of trans youth.”

“It looks like a campaign document frankly,” he added. “It seems to be a document written by anti-trans activists, not public health professionals or healthcare leaders.”

Political weapons disguised as policies

“Dear State Medicaid Director” Such letters are not legally binding. They have no formal rulemaking weights. However, these letters send strong signals about federal priorities in the world of Medicaid, a federal partnership.

Shankar warned of that Republican Party-LED states can now use letters to block care where they are currently permitted.

“The important horror here is that this ‘dear state Medicaid director’ letter will be used to eliminate further access to care in some states,” he said. “And that risk is actually very important because there is incredible data confirming the health effects of denying access to care for trans youth.”

Health professionals reject the administration’s claim

The Trump administration argues that care that maintains the gender of minors does not have “reliable evidence” of long-term benefits – Claims denied by all major US healthcare providersincluding the American Academy of Pediatrics, the Endocrinology Society, and the American Medical Association.

Last month, we started with new medical guidelines GermanyAustria and Switzerland reaffirmed the importance of gender-affirming care, including adolescent blockers, and rejected the methodology of the UK CASS review. This is a report that is frequently cited by US conservatives seeking to ban transcare.

Matthew Rose, advocate for senior public policy Human Rights Campaigncalled CMS letters, a deliberate attack on trans people who pretend to be health policy.

“I am deeply concerned that at a time when thousands of federal health workers are suddenly fired without explanation and multiple public health crises are taking place across the country, CMS is focusing on time and taxpayer dollars to disseminate anti-science misinformation to disrupt medical decisions made with doctors,” Rose said. Supporters. “This approach is not only ignorant, but is intentionally harmful to communities that rely on best practices and evidence-based healthcare to lead the most authentic lives.”

“Overall mischaracteristics” and misuse of science

Kellan E. Baker, transgender man and executive director of Whitman Walker’s Institute of Health Research and Policy Washington, DC, I said Supporters The CMS letter shows the escalation of the regime’s attack on transhealth care.

“The purpose of this letter is to add fuel to fires in states that are already trying to ban care for trans people, and to put politicians between parents and children, between doctors and patients,” Baker said.

Baker called the sterilization restrictions to maintain gender “the use of sterilization regulations,” targeting “severe mischaracteristics,” and warned that the letter would come along with another disturbing move from the Trump administration.

The administration’s directive has been widely criticized by health experts; LGBTQ+ Supporters say it is part of a political effort to outlaw trans identity.

Related: Trump orders the NIH to study gender transition “remorse.” This is what we already know

“There are already reliable studies on the experiences of trans people, including very low regret rates,” Baker said. “Researchers working in this field are committed to understanding the full experience of trans people. The outcome of their health, their care trajectory, their needs. What this administration is doing is the opposite.”

Baker said the Trump administration is weaponizing federal research dollars to produce politically useful results, rather than promoting knowledge or supporting public health. “It’s censorship poses as research,” Baker said. “It’s the perversion of a scientific company.”

Studies have shown that regret after sex maintaining surgery is rare, affecting less than 1% of patients, much lower than many other common medical procedures.

“These policies, these attacks are hurting people,” Baker added. “They are hurting real people.”

Advocates warn of the threat of broader physical autonomy

LGBTQ+ Supporters say the CMS letter is part of a much larger strategy, not only to limit health care for trans people, but also to expand government control over individual health decisions.

Olivia Hunt, federal policy director for trans equality advocates, Supporters The Trump administration’s moves set healthcare standards and ignore the direct exposure to trans youth at harm.

“Refusing healthcare related to trans youth will ignore scientific and medical consensus and put your lives at risk,” Hunt said. “Transition-related healthcare is about being safe, effective and life-saving. Trans young people claim they are false and cannot be blamed.”

“The CMS statement is part of a broader effort to control body autonomy, targeting trans people as well as those who are looking for freedom more than their own health care decisions,” she added.

The state still has power

The letter does not mandate changes to Medicaid compensation, but Shanker said states opposing guidance should assert their authority.

“The way to set up a Medicaid system is that states and federal governments share certain responsibilities,” he said. “So states that disagree with this letter should remember their role in administering the state’s Medicaid program and encourage continued access to care for all registered people in Medicaid in the state, including trans youth and their families.”