Trump Administration Cuts Federal Funding for Transgender Treatment for Young People
The Trump administration has decided to terminate federal funding for gender reassignment treatment for minors. This move comes as CMS Secretary Dr. Mehmet Oz has raised concerns regarding potential long-term health risks. Dr. Ira Sabetsky, a board-certified plastic surgeon, expressed support for this decision during an interview, noting the insufficient clinical evidence surrounding irreversible surgeries on many minors.
In a related matter, Vice President J.D. Vance is urging the Justice Department to investigate a significant report from the Department of Health and Human Services (HHS). This report claims that certain hospitals and healthcare providers have falsified records to subject children to profitable sex-reassignment procedures. The report, titled “Wolves in White Coats: How Doctors and Hospitals Promoted and Profited from the ‘Gendered Medicine’ Fraud,” has identified over $60 million in insurance claims between 2015 and 2025 related to treatments involving puberty blockers for 13-year-olds.
The HHS indicates that some healthcare providers marketed treatments for hormonal and endocrine issues as transgender care and then billed insurance for them. The report also criticizes the Biden administration’s policies for encouraging coverage of gender surgeries.
Trump Administration Rejects ‘Experimental’ Treatments
Fox News Digital gained access to a letter from Vance to Attorney General Todd Blanche, where he outlines his worries about the report and calls for legal action against those who mislead children into pursuing transgender treatments. Vance cited a study indicating that only about 4.7% of patients with “endocrine disease (unspecified)” genuinely had that condition. He questioned the accuracy of recent increases in pediatric endocrine disorder diagnoses, which have reportedly risen by 30%.
While treatment costs for minors usually average around $3,000, transgender treatments can vary widely. Without surgery, expenses might hit $75,000, but this can balloon to nearly $170,000 when surgeries are necessary. The report highlights how healthcare providers can profit significantly from lifelong expenses tied to medical interventions, prescriptions, and surgeries long after a minor becomes an adult.
Currently, about 225 hospitals and health systems across the country have established pediatric gender programs. Vance accuses these medical providers of deliberately misdiagnosing conditions for insurance benefits by utilizing specific billing codes. He indicated that healthcare providers ought to be liable if they misrepresent treatments to achieve coverage for gender reassignment procedures.
Justice Department Investigation Suggested
Vance’s letter emphasizes the need to hold healthcare providers accountable and states that if they purposely defrauded Medicaid and private insurance, they should face severe repercussions. He remarked, “We must send a clear message that healthcare workers involved in harmful practices against children will be prosecuted.” The HHS report draws on scientific literature, hospital documentation, whistleblower accounts, a national claims analysis, and interviews with patients and their parents.
Shortly after President Biden assumed office in 2021, he signed an executive order titled “Preventing and Combating Discrimination Based on Gender Identity or Sexual Orientation.” This directive asserts that children should not be penalized regarding access to school facilities or healthcare based on their gender identity.
In March 2022, the Department of Health and Human Services reaffirmed that “gender-affirming care for minors is beneficial for physical and mental health when deemed medically appropriate and necessary.”
In a separate executive order from June 2022, Biden instructed federal agencies, including HHS, to enhance access to comprehensive healthcare for LGBTQI+ individuals and families by addressing discrimination and obstacles they face.
Fox News Digital has also received a letter from Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. detailing hospitals and clinicians he believes exhibit “potentially unusual billing patterns.” The report calls for further investigation into the insurance coding utilized for gendered medical care.
The Department of Justice was contacted for a comment but did not respond in time.
