The Trump administration announced Tuesday that Medicaid will stop paying for gender-affirming surgeries and hormone treatments for transgender minors. The Children's Health Insurance Program, known as CHIP, will also be barred from covering those treatments for anyone under 19. The policy takes effect October 13.
The announcement was made by President Trump in a social media post, in which he said he directed Dr. Mehmet Oz, the administrator of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services, to make the change. "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.
According to CBS News, the policy will continue to allow Medicaid and CHIP to pay for mental health treatment for transgender minors. Hormone treatments, including puberty blockers and those used to produce sex-related physical changes, will be phased out for those already receiving them as of April 2027. Gender-affirming surgeries for minors are already rare, while puberty blockers and hormone treatments are more common.
At least 27 states have already banned gender-affirming care for those under 18. Even in states without bans, many major hospitals have already stopped providing some of these treatments.
Advocacy groups quickly condemned the move. GLBTQ Legal Advocates and Defenders legal director Josh Rovenger said the rule "is putting up barriers between parents and their ability to make the best medical decisions for their children" and would face a legal challenge. Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson called it an act of terror. "The Trump administration is terrorizing trans youth and their families with these kinds of actions, and it has to stop," Robinson said in a statement.
The Human Rights Campaign is already suing the administration over its efforts to bar gender-affirming care coverage under federal employee benefit plans.
The American Medical Association and most major medical organizations support access to gender-affirming care. The American Society of Plastic Surgeons took a different position earlier this year, saying it found "insufficient evidence" that the benefits of chest, genital, and facial surgeries on minors experiencing gender dysphoria outweigh the risks.
The administration has also previously announced it would cut off Medicaid and Medicare funding entirely from hospitals that provide gender-affirming care for minors.
The Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services did not respond to questions about the new policy on Tuesday.
