Newsmax: The Trump administration said Tuesday it plans to implement a rule that will end the use of federal Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program funding for gender-transition medical care for children and adolescents.
President Donald Trump announced the move on Truth Social, saying he directed Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services, to end federal Medicaid funding for gender-transition surgeries and hormones for minors.
“Today, at my direction, Dr. Mehmet Oz announced that Medicaid will NO LONGER fund gender transition surgeries and hormones for minors,” Trump wrote.
“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,” he added.
Trump said that pressure from his administration over the past year and a half had already led dozens of U.S. hospitals to end what he called “so-called ‘gender-affirming care,'” adding that he expects more hospitals to follow.
“Just think about all of the young, innocent, and perhaps confused children who will be spared!” Trump wrote.
The rule, which is scheduled to take effect Oct. 13, would prohibit federal funding through Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) from being used for treatments including puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and gender-transition surgery, according to CNBC.
States could continue using their own funds to cover such treatments.
Gender-transition surgeries are rare among minors.
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services said the decision followed a Department of Health and Human Services review of U.S. and international research into gender-transition treatment for minors.
According to CMS, the review identified “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 administration did not provide details Tuesday about the specific evidence underlying those conclusions.
Gender-transition care can include mental health services and medical treatments intended to align a person’s physical characteristics with their gender identity.
Some of the medications used in gender-transition treatment, including puberty blockers and hormones, are also prescribed to cisgender children for other medical conditions.
The new rule does not affect federal coverage of mental health services for children.
Major U.S. medical organizations have supported access to gender-transition treatment when provided under established clinical guidelines.
The National Alliance on Mental Illness has said research indicates access to such care can improve mental health outcomes, including among young people, while denying care can worsen mental health symptoms and increase the risk of suicide.
The policy comes amid broader efforts by Republican-led states to restrict gender-transition procedures for minors. Twenty-seven states have enacted restrictions on such care for children, according to KFF, a health policy research organization.
Trump also tied the administration’s action to the November midterm elections, contrasting the Republican position with that of Democrats.
“While the Dumocrat Party wants your kids to be able to chop off their reproductive organs before they are old enough to vote, President Donald J. Trump (ME!) and the Republican Party say that is ABSURD, and we will protect America’s children,” Trump wrote.
“Please remember this when you are casting your vote in the Midterm Elections in November,” he said.