Following through on an executive order signed in January, the Trump administration on Dec. 18 issued multiple proposed rules intended to comprehensively ban gender-affirming care for youth.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced that the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services would require hospitals participating in Medicare and Medicaid programs to bar what the administration describes as “sex-rejecting procedures” — or gender-affirming care — on individuals under the age of 18. A press release issued by HHS on Dec. 18 said the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services would also issue a proposed rule banning federal Medicaid funding for gender-affirming care for minors. The same ban, according to the administration, would apply to federal Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) funding for gender-affirming care procedures on individuals under age 19.
