On December 18th, the Trump administration proposed new federal rules that seek to prevent hospitals that receive Medicaid/Medicare from providing medically-necessary healthcare for transgender youth and bar the use of federal Medicaid/CHIP funds for the same essential care.
We understand that this is deeply upsetting. We want to assure you that transgender healthcare remains legal and protected in Massachusetts thanks to the steadfast commitment of trans leaders and activists, as well as our state’s political leadership. Additionally, we want to assure our patients and their families that the gender-affirming care they receive from Transhealth will not be affected by these proposed rule changes.
Next, know that these proposed rules are not yet the law. There will first be a public comment period inviting anyone who wishes to share their opposition, and hundreds of our national and local partners are poised to fight alongside us. Transhealth will publish guidance on how to participate as soon as it is available.
Most importantly, even if these rules are implemented, they will NOT amount to a federal ban on trans healthcare, and the gender-affirming care and services we provide at Transhealth will not be impacted. While we have valued hospital partners, like in the case of our work with Mass General Brigham, We are an independent, nonprofit health care organization.
By proposing these new rules, the Trump administration continues its dangerous and discriminatory pattern of attacking transgender, gender-diverse, and intersex people. While millions teeter on the brink of losing their healthcare, instead of focusing on policies which would help American families, this administration has chosen to expend energy and resources on launching another cruel assault on vulnerable communities in an attempt to score political points at the expense of the most marginalized among us.
Through anti-science rantings, mass disinformation, and the weaponization of the federal government, politicians are threatening the fundamental right of trans and gender-diverse people to have happy, healthy, futures, and inserting themselves into private decision making that should be left to patients, their families, and their healthcare providers.
At Transhealth we believe in evidence-based science and medicine, and we believe that everyone should have the freedom to be themselves and the right to control their own bodies. Healthcare for transgender people is safe, effective, essential, and supported by every major medical and mental health association. Independent and government directed research, including a comprehensive study commissioned by the state of Utah, demonstrates that when trans and gender-diverse youth receive the medically necessary healthcare they need and deserve, they thrive.
The Trump administration may try their best to break down the will and determination of trans and gender-diverse people, but know this to be true: they will never prevail. Trans and gender-diverse people have always found a way forward through bigotry and intolerance, guided by the wisdom of our elders, the power of our communities, and the support of our allies.
In these dark times, Transhealth remains here for our communities and the people we serve. Today and all days, we will continue this fight together.
