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The Trump administration will no longer fund gender transition surgeries using Medicaid for minors, President Donald Trump said Tuesday, calling such procedures “barbaric.”
In a Truth Social post, Trump said he ordered Dr. Mehmet Oz, administrator of the U.S. Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, to stop using the joint federal and state public health insurance program to fund such procedures.
“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,” Trump wrote.
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Trump’s announcement came after CMS said it would begin implementing a rule that ends the use of federal Medicaid and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) funding for gender-affirming care for children and youth.
That includes puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgical operations, which “can result in irreversible damage, including infertility, impaired sexual function, diminished bone density, altered brain development, and other lasting physiological effects.”
“Children deserve our protection, not experimental interventions that pose serious risks and convey no proven benefits,” Oz said in a statement. “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.”
The rule is slated to take effect on Oct. 13. It does not affect coverage of mental health services.
COLORADO SUPREME COURT ORDERS CHILDREN’S HOSPITAL TO RESUME GENDER TRANSITION TREATMENTS FOR MINORS
The move by the CMS follows a Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) review of national and international research. The review found “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 CMS pointed to the United Kingdom’s Cass Review as one of the cornerstone pieces of research informing the decision.
That review, conducted by Dr. Hilary Cass, concluded in 2024 that research on medical interventions like cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers was limited and not definitive. The report also said that medical interventions had developed significantly faster than evidence proving those interventions were safe.
“The Trump Administration is drawing a clear line: America’s children will not be subjected to life-altering interventions on the taxpayer’s dime without reliable evidence of safety and clinical benefit,” HHS Press Secretary Emily Hilliard told Fox News Digital.
“Under the leadership of Secretary Kennedy, federal health care dollars will support evidence-based care that protects children and puts their long-term health first,” she added. “American taxpayers should never be forced to finance interventions when the evidence of benefit is insufficient and the potential consequences for children can be serious and irreversible.”
Twenty-seven states have enacted restrictions on gender-affirming care for minors, according to KFF, a health policy group.
Republican lawmakers have moved to restrict such procedures for minors, while many Democrats have said such restrictions are attacks against trans people.
In his Truth Social post, Trump said many hospitals across the country have ended such “gender-affirming care,” with many more expected to follow.
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“Just think about all of the young, innocent, and perhaps confused children who will be spared!” he wrote. “While the Democrat Party wants your kids to be able to chop off their reproductive organs before they are old enough to vote.”
He also urged his followers to remember the Democratic Party’s position on the matter ahead of November’s midterm elections.
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