Trump administration ends Medicaid, CHIP funding for child gender transitions

The US Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) announced Tuesday that it is ending federal Medicaid and Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP) funding for gender transition procedures for children and youth.

The final rule, implemented through the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), ends federal funding for puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and surgical operations for children, which HHS describes as "experimental and life-altering sex-rejecting procedures that carry serious long-term health risks."

"Today, we are ending federal taxpayer funding for sex-rejecting procedures on children," HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. said, citing "serious risks" and "irreversible harm."

CMS Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said children "deserve our protection, not experimental interventions."

"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," Oz added.

Mental health coverage is unaffected, and children currently on hormone therapy will retain funding for up to six months. The rule takes effect Oct. 13.

President Donald Trump said he directed the move, writing on his Truth Social platform that the administration would not "pay for our innocent children to undergo these barbaric surgeries and practices, which result in unthinkable and irreversible harm to their young bodies."

"Thanks to our strong position and pressure on this issue over the past year and a half, dozens of U.S. hospitals have already ended this so-called ‘gender-affirming care,’ and we expect many more to follow," he added.

He linked the announcement to the midterm elections, saying: "Please remember this when you are casting your vote in the Midterm Elections in November."