The Trump administration is expected to announce several moves Thursday that will have the effect of essentially banning gender-affirming care for transgender young people, even in states where it is still legal.
Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. will be announcing the measures in a press conference scheduled for 11 a.m. at the headquarters of the Department of Health and Human Services. Dr. Mehmet Oz, who leads the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, Dr. Marty Makary, who leads the Food and Drug Administration, and Dr. Jay Bhattacharya, who leads the National Institutes of Health, will all be 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 younger than age 18. The second would block all Medicaid and Medicare funding for any services at hospitals that provide pediatric gender-affirming care. Medicaid provides health care coverage to low-income children and adults in the U.S. Medicare is the health program for Americans over 65 and disabled people. Virtually every hospital in the country takes Medicare and relies on it, so the rule would have a wide-ranging effect.
Makary and Bhattacharya are also expected to make announcements about health care that transgender young people receive.
Legislative action
The pivot to the topic of transgender minors comes one day after Republicans in the House of Representatives passed a package of health care bills that do not extend subsidies for people who buy health insurance in Affordable Care Act plans.
The legislative package included a bill, introduced by Rep. Marjorie Taylor Greene, R-Ga., that makes it a crime to provide gender-affirming care to transgender minors, punishable by a fine or prison time of up to 10 years. It passed on Wednesday.
Another bill, introduced by Rep. Dan Crenshaw, R-Texas, would prohibit Medicaid reimbursement for gender-affirming care for youth. It is scheduled for a vote on Thursday. Both bills would also have to pass the Senate to become law.
Supporters and opponents of transgender rights agree that, taken together, the forthcoming hospital rules could make access to pediatric gender-affirming care across the country extremely difficult, if not impossible. The care is already banned in 27 states. The proposed rules will start a comment period after they are entered into the Federal Register; they will not take effect immediately.
This story will be updated later Thursday, following the official announcements.
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