Administration may cut funds to hospitals offering gender care to kids
Nine major children's hospitals recently received letters from federal officials seeking information about procedures such as hormone therapy, puberty blockers and sex-reassignment surgeries, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Dr. Mehmet Oz, who now leads the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, said the goal is to protect children from 'life-altering and experimental procedures.'
'CMS has warned hospitals and state Medicaid programs about these dangers - and is taking regulatory enforcement actions,' Oz said.
Officials at CMS say they are looking into whether they can block federal Medicaid or insurance funding to hospitals that offer such care.
They're also reviewing whether hospitals could be removed from Medicaid entirely if they continue to treat minors for gender-related issues, The Wall Street Journal said.
Most children's hospitals depend heavily on Medicaid.
One of the hospitals that received a letter, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, has already announced it will shut down its gender-related care program. The hospital said more than 65% of its funding comes from federal sources.
'These threats are no longer theoretical. The federal government has already cut off hundreds of millions of dollars from U.S. academic and research institutions,' hospital leaders said in a June 12 letter to the staff.
Boston Children's Hospital said it has a legal duty under Massachusetts law to provide access to gender-affirming care and is still reviewing the CMS letter.
The letters were sent as part of a broader effort by the administration to restrict gender-affirming care for minors.
In April, U.S. Attorney General Pam Bondi said the Justice Department would investigate doctors and hospitals that perform gender-related surgeries or mislead families about treatment.
The U.S. Supreme Court ruled last week that states can limit access to these treatments for minors, and more Americans are expressing concern about transgender-related policies in schools and sports.
According to nonprofit health research group KFF, 27 states now have laws or policies that restrict gender-related care for children and teens.
Some hospitals that received the CMS letter are scaling back services. UPMC Children's Hospital in Pittsburgh said it would stop offering puberty blockers, citing the risk of legal action, The Wall Street Journal said.
'As we continue to monitor executive-branch memos, directives and other guidance from the federal government, these actions have made it abundantly clear that our clinicians can no longer provide certain types of gender-affirming care without risk of criminal prosecution,' a hospital spokesperson said.
The nine hospitals that received letters include: Children's Hospital of Philadelphia, Seattle Children's Hospital, Children's Hospital Los Angeles, Boston Children's Hospital, Children's National Hospital, UCSF Benioff Children's Hospital Oakland, Children's Hospital Colorado, UPMC Children's Hospital of Pittsburgh and Cincinnati Children's Hospital Medical Center, The Wall Street Journal reported.
Children's Hospital Colorado and Cincinnati Children's both said they don't perform surgeries for minors.
Ellen Kahn, senior vice president of the Human Rights Campaign, said transgender surgeries for youth are rare and that parents, doctors and patients should make those decisions.
'Studies consistently show that affirming care reduces depression, anxiety and suicide risk among transgender youth,' she said.
'The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services should protect healthcare, not politicize it,' she added.
Supporters of gender-related treatments say these services are often life-saving for young people with gender dysphoria. But others argue there is not enough evidence yet about any long-term outcomes.
More information: The HHS Office of Population Affairs has more on gender-affirming care for young people.
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