By Ahmed Aboulenein
WASHINGTON, Dec 18 (Reuters) - U.S. Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. moved on Thursday to cut access to gender-affirming care for children, proposing rules
that would bar hospitals that deliver such care from Medicare and Medicaid programs and also prohibit Medicaid and children's health programs from paying for it.
"Medical professionals or entities providing sex-rejecting procedures to children are out of compliance with these standards of healthcare," Kennedy said.
His position contradicts the nation's largest medical organizations including the American Academy of Pediatrics and the American Medical Association, which support insurance coverage for gender-affirming care and say decisions should be made by children, parents and doctors.
Republican President Donald Trump signed an executive order nearly a year ago that had sought to roll back protections and healthcare coverage for transgender people.
Trump's U.S. Department of Justice has already cracked down on some hospitals that provide the care, resulting in a lawsuit by 16 Democratic states seeking to block the moves.
Nearly all U.S. hospitals participate in the Medicare program for people aged 65 and older or who have disabilities. More than half of U.S. children receive their health coverage through the U.S. federal and state-based Medicaid and CHIP programs.
During an hour-long press conference on Thursday, health officials including Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Mehmet Oz, Food and Drug Administration Commissioner Marty Makary, and acting head of the Centers for Disease Control and Prevention Jim O'Neill all decried the current U.S. policies.
Oz said that in 2023, the U.S. government spent $30 million on gender-affirming care.
Health officials suggested counseling as an alternative to gender-affirming care.
New York Attorney General Letitia James, whose state is part of the existing lawsuit, said, “I will use every tool at my disposal to fight this proposal and protect transgender Americans and their families.”
At least 121,882 children ages 6 to 17 were diagnosed with gender dysphoria from 2017 through 2021, according to an analysis done for Reuters by Komodo Health. The number of children who started on puberty blockers or hormones totaled 17,683 over the same five-year period.
These numbers are probably an undercount since they exclude children whose records did not specify a gender dysphoria diagnosis or whose treatment was not covered by insurance.
(Reporting by Ahmed Aboulenein in Washington, Chad Terhune in Los Angeles and Bhargav Acharya in Toronto; Additional reporting by Daniel Wiessner in Albany, New York; Editing by Chizu Nomiyama, Franklin Paul and Matthew Lewis)
