Breaking: After Massive Outrage from Public, HHS Backs Down Over Plan…
WASHINGTON, D.C. — The Human Rights Campaign, responding to reports today that the federal Department of Health and Human Services is no longer planning to advance a rule that would interfere with transition medical care for young people at hospitals throughout the country, released the following statement:“It takes an avalanche of outrage to stop this administration from doing harm to innocent people, and together, we the people delivered to protect transgender youth across the country.” said Human Rights Campaign President Kelley Robinson. “Together, we have stopped Donald Trump and RFK Jr., this time, from imposing their malignant will in every doctor’s office and home when it comes to what is the right and appropriate treatment for trans people – decisions that should be left up to medical professionals, the patients themselves, and their loved ones.“Make no mistake, this is a reprieve, not a victory, and only for some. There are still many states that ban life-saving healthcare care for political reasons, and too many medical facilities complying in advance that weren’t required to. But this is a reminder of our movement’s power to fight back, speak up, and win.” In December, the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) issued a series of draft notices of proposed rulemaking (NPRM) that, taken together, aim to put best-practice, medically necessary health care for trans youth nearly entirely out of reach in this country. The rule rescinded today would have barred any hospital that provides best practice, medically necessary health care for trans youth (which the Trump administration defines as including puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and surgery operations) from participating in the Medicare and Medicaid programs (which nearly every hospital in the country participates in). However, the administration continues to seek to prohibit Medicaid funds from covering any best practice, medically necessary health care for trans youth under the age of 18, and Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) funds from covering that care for trans youth under the age of 19.Katie Keith, director of the Health Policy and the Law Initiative at Georgetown University who also worked in the Biden administration, told NPR the decision of the Trump administration not to finalize this rule "should give hospitals [who stopped providing care] more confidence to either resume or continue offering the care," she says. Because the rule was never in effect, "I would argue that they should have been doing this all along anyway."The Human Rights Campaign is America’s largest civil rights organization working to achieve equality for lesbian, gay, bisexual, transgender and queer people. HRC envisions a world where LGBTQ+ people are embraced as full members of society at home, at work and in every community.
