Trump administration finalizes ban on Medicaid and CHIP funding for youth gender procedures

The Trump administration has finalized a rule that would end the use of federal Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program funds for so-callede "gender-affirming" procedures on children and youth.

“Today, we are ending federal taxpayer funding for sex-rejecting procedures on children,” Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. said Tuesday in announcing the finalization. “These interventions carry serious risks and can cause irreversible harm. The federal government will no longer use Medicaid and CHIP dollars to fund procedures that fail to meet the evidentiary standard our children deserve.” 

The ruling by the Department of Health and Human Services, through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, blocks funding for such procedures on children as surgical operations or giving them such drugs as puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones.

CMS said in its press release that these procedures can result in irreversible damage such as infertility, impaired sexual function, diminished bone density, altered brain development, and other lasting physiological effects.

“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,” CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said.

As part of the announcement, CMS pointed to international reviews such as the United Kingdom’s Cass Report, which concludes that clinical evidence for youth gender-affirming medical intervention is weak and recommends a shift toward holistic care, and the American Society of Plastic Surgeons (ASPS), which has issued a position statement recommending that surgeons delay gender-related surgeries until a patient is at least 19 years old.

“We are not going to pay for our innocent children to undergo these barbaric surgeries and practices, which result in unthinkable and irreversible harm to their young bodies,” President Donald Trump also posted on social media. 

Under the final rule, scheduled to take effect October 13, federal Medicaid and CHIP funding will be available for an ease-off period for up to six months from the effective date of the rule for children who are currently on hormone therapy. The rule will not affect coverage of mental health services. 

Christina Park is a reporter for Just the News. Follow her on X for more coverage.