Trump ends Medicaid, CHIP funding for gender-affirming care for children

The Trump administration on Tuesday said it is implementing a rule that ends the use of federal Medicaid and CHIP funding for gender-affirming care for children and youth.

That includes puberty blockers, hormones and surgical operations, among other treatment. Gender-affirming surgeries are rare among minors.

Gender-affirming care includes mental and medical treatments that help bring a person’s gender expression, like their voice or appearance, in line with their gender identity. It can serve transgender people but also cisgender, nonbinary or intersex people.

The Trump administration rule, set to take effect on Oct. 13, would bar U.S. funding in the two federal-state healthcare programs from going toward gender-affirming care for youth. State dollars could still help cover the treatments.

CMS said the decision follows a review of national and international research by HHS. That research identified what the agencies claim is «significant evidence gaps, documented serious safety concerns, and concluded that the evidence supporting these interventions for children remains insufficient to justify federal taxpayer funding.» The details of those findings are unclear.

Gender-affirming care is supported by major medical organizations as safe and effective when following clinical guidelines, as well as positively-received by patients. Studies have shown that access to gender-affirming care can improve mental health outcomes, including when it’s initiated in youth, according to the National Alliance on Mental Illness, the U.S.’s leading grassroots mental health organization. The organization said denying gender-affirming care can similarly worsen mental health symptoms and increase suicide risk.

Notably, the rule does not affect federal coverage of mental health services for children.

Republicans across the U.S. have moved to restrict healthcare or legal protections for trans people. Many GOP lawmakers have used rhetoric against trans people as political attacks against Democrats, particularly as the midterm elections approach in November.

Twenty-seven states in the U.S. have enacted restrictions on gender-affirming care for children, according to health policy organization KFF.

In a Truth Social post on Tuesday, President Donald Trump promoted the policy change and explicitly tied it to his party’s efforts to retain control of Congress this year.

«Please remember this when you are casting your vote in the Midterm Elections in November,» he said.