All articles tagged with #gender affirming care
UPMC and NYU Langone Hospitals agreed to stop providing gender-affirming care to minors and pay settlements totaling about $9.45 million after federal investigations into related billing practices, with privacy protections and no admission of wrongdoing.
NYU Langone Health reached an $8.5 million settlement with the DOJ to shutter its gender-affirming care for minors, joining Mount Sinai and other systems in winding down youth services after federal pressure and threats to defund federal funding; the hospital says it is resolving investigations without admitting wrongdoing, while critics warn the move reduces access to lifesaving care for transgender youth and politicizes medical decisions. The settlement comes after subpoenas and ongoing investigations, and state officials say they are reviewing the deal. Other major systems, including the University of Pittsburgh Medical Center, have reached similar agreements.
A cross-sectional study at a pediatric hospital comparing adolescents (under 18) and young adults (18–26) who had gender-affirming chest surgery found near-zero median regret (0) and maximum satisfaction (5) in both groups, with no significant age-related differences. Family support correlated with higher satisfaction, while a small subset reported cosmetic concerns but still noted improved quality of life. Limitations include a median 1.8 years post-surgery and a 42% response rate, raising potential biases. Overall, findings align with prior adult data and challenge assumptions that youth may later regret irreversible changes.
The Department of Health and Human Services’ Wolves in White Coats report highlights three detransitioner accounts—Clementine Breen, Soren Aldaco, and Luke Healy—who allege that doctors pressured underage patients to pursue gender-transition treatments, often starting with puberty blockers and hormones and, in some cases, including surgeries. The stories describe rapid social/medical transitions, limited exploration of alternatives, perceived profit motives, and significant later health and psychological consequences, prompting calls for a more cautious, structured reassessment of youth gender-care pathways.
The Department of Health and Human Services announced referrals to federal investigators of hundreds of providers over potentially anomalous billing of gender-affirming care for minors, including about $50 million in claims from 2015–2025 and major hospitals among those named. The CMS-commissioned report cited patterns it says could financially benefit providers, while the administration continues to push policies to curb or end funding for such care, drawing criticism from major medical groups and ongoing regulatory actions.
A class-action lawsuit filed by the Human Rights Campaign Foundation and Correia & Puth argues that the Trump administration’s ban on insurance coverage for gender-affirming care in federal employee plans violates Title VII by discriminating based on sex, affecting about 8.3 million people and 39,400 enrollees; the policy removed coverage (except for mental health counseling) and a vague mid-treatment carve-out that ends in 2027, forcing some workers to pay out-of-pocket or forgo care, while medical groups deem the care medically necessary.
Democrats mocked Pete Hegseth’s plan to screen service members for testosterone deficiency as “gender-affirming care,” prompting backlash from Republicans and veterans groups who say the program aims to restore natural hormone levels and improve readiness. Hegseth frames it as restoring and optimizing natural capabilities rather than artificial enhancement, with treatment available if clinically indicated. Supporters argue endocrine health is key to mission readiness, while critics warn against mislabeling medical care as a political gesture.
A detransitioner, Claire Abernathy, who began gender transition at 14 and underwent a teenage double mastectomy after a brief consultation, writes an open letter accusing Dr. Alan Dulin of performing an unnecessary operation and harming her, detailing long‑term physical and emotional consequences and urging accountability as Fox News covers her op-ed and the broader debate over youth gender surgeries.
A Kansas judge granted an injunction blocking the enforcement of a newly approved law banning gender-affirming treatments for minors, after two teenagers’ parents, represented by the ACLU, sued to allow their continuity of care while the case proceeds. The attorney general plans to appeal; if upheld, the injunction would last for the duration of the lawsuit, with the court citing rights to personal autonomy and parental medical decision-making.
Texas Children’s Hospital will establish the country’s first detransition clinic and provide free detransition care for five years as part of a settlement with Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton and the U.S. Department of Justice over alleged Medicaid billing for transition care; the hospital will also terminate five doctors involved in transition care and pay $10 million. Officials say the clinic will formalize multidisciplinary services the hospital already offers, while Paxton frames the deal as a shift away from gender-ideology and notes an ongoing national probe into transition care for minors. Details on staffing and exact services were not disclosed.
Texas Children’s Hospital will launch what officials call the nation’s first detransition clinic for transgender youths as part of a settlement with the Texas attorney general and the U.S. justice department over alleged improper Medicaid billing and other claims related to gender-affirming care; the hospital will pay $10 million, terminate several physicians, and fund the detransition clinic for five years with services free to patients, while agreeing to stop providing puberty blockers, hormone therapy, or surgeries to minors. The deal is framed by Texas officials as a shift away from gender ideology, amid broader federal scrutiny of gender-affirming care for minors, with the DOJ saying it will continue pursuing enforcement against providers of such care.
The Justice Department announced the first resolution in its national probe into alleged federal-law violations tied to pediatric gender-affirming procedures, with Texas Children’s Hospital agreeing to stop such procedures for minors, pay $10 million in damages and penalties, and fund a detransitioner care clinic; the settlement also involves alleged false billing, the hospital cooperated, and there has been no admission of liability as the investigation continues.
Texas Attorney General Ken Paxton secured a settlement with Texas Children’s Hospital requiring the hospital to create the nation’s first detransition clinic and to pay $10 million to the state for Medicaid-billing accusations, with five physicians’ medical privileges revoked; the clinic will be funded by the hospital for five years and offered free of charge to patients, drawing mixed reactions from advocates and lawmakers within the broader debate on transgender healthcare.
A federal judge in Oregon overturned the Trump-era effort to bar gender-affirming care for minors under HHS policies associated with RFK Jr., ruling the move unlawful and blocking similar nationwide enforcement. The decision removes the immediate threat to federal funding and allows many providers to resume care, though state bans and access gaps remain in some areas.
An Oregon federal judge ruled that Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. overstepped his authority by publicly denouncing gender-affirming care for minors and criticizing providers, in a suit brought by 18 states. The court found he violated standard rulemaking procedures by releasing a December 2025 declaration and issued a ruling that preserves clinics’ funding prospects as the case continues.