Transhealth strongly condemns a newly released Trump Administration rule which targets healthcare access for some of the most vulnerable members of our community – under-resourced trans youth, young trans adults, and their families.
If implemented, this cruel and reprehensible rule out of the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid (CMS) would block federal dollars from being used to cover medically necessary healthcare (hormones, puberty-pausing medications, and in rare cases surgery) for trans youth under the age of 18 who are enrolled in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program (CHIP) and trans adults who are 18 enrolled in CHIP. In Massachusetts, this type of insurance is called MassHealth. This rule does not ban gender-affirming care for youth, and this essential care will remain legal and protected in Massachusetts.
We need our patients to know this. The rule will not change the evidence-based, medically necessary healthcare Transhealth provides. The Governor and state Legislature have boldly created the Affirming Health Care Trust Fund and funded it thus far with $8.5 million. If the rule is implemented, the state has committed that it will continue to cover gender-affirming care for those affected, including office visits, prescriptions, and required lab work.
We are profoundly grateful for the safeguards that trans leaders, along with our Governor, state Legislature, Attorney General, Commissioner of Public Health, and many advocates have fought for to protect access to gender-affirming care in Massachusetts.
Although this rule is scheduled to take effect in mid-October we expect fierce legal challenges from our national legal partners and state attorneys general in their efforts to block its implementation.
Make no mistake, trans healthcare for youth is safe, effective, and beneficial. Definitively backed by medical research and scientific consensus, this life-saving care is supported by every major medical and mental health association in the U.S. Care decisions belong to families and medical providers, not the federal government.
Trans people will not be erased. Transhealth will continue to care for our communities and fight for a world in which all people have a right to healthcare and bodily autonomy.
