PROPOSED RULES RESTRICT FEDERAL FUNDING FOR MEDICALLY NECESSARY HEALTHCARE FOR TRANSGENDER YOUTH. COMMENTS ARE DUE THIS TUESDAY, FEBRUARY 17.
In mid-December, the Trump Administration – through the Centers of Medicare and Medicaid Services (CMS) – proposed two rules aimed at blocking access to medically necessary care for transgender youth. Last week I submitted public comment to the federal government in strong opposition to their proposed rules to limit gender affirming healthcare for transgender youth. (you can read my comments here.) You can submit your comment, they are due this Tuesday, February 17, 2026.
One PROPOSED rule would condition Medicare and Medicaid funding on hospitals refusing to provide gender-affirming care to trans and nonbinary youth under 18, thereby punishing hospitals for providing the care. The other PROPOSED rule would prohibit Medicaid and CHIP from covering this care for youth under 18 and 19, respectively. These are proposed rules, not in effect, and may be subject to public comment and future lawsuits.
You can submit a comment on these rules, and need to do so via an online form in TWO places (one for each of the proposed rules). You can submit your comments by clicking on the links below. (Try to disregard the offensive inaccurate title they’ve given these proposals. However, if you click on those titles you’ll get the full text of the proposals). Submit comments here: https://www.regulations.gov/commenton/CMS-2025-1823-0001 and here: https://www.regulations.gov/document/CMS-2025-1822-0001
You can see Attorney General Andrea Campbell’s statement on these rules here.
She has also taken other action, read more here.