The moves this week add to the administration’s quest to limit transition-related care for transgender youth, which is testing the power of executive authority.
On Tuesday, the administration finalized a plan to cut state Medicaid funds for hormone therapy, puberty blockers and surgeries for transgender youth.
According to the administration, 17 states cover some degree of gender-affirming care for children under Medicaid and the Children's Health Insurance Program (CHIP).
Major medical groups say the administration’s moves misrepresent the current medical consensus, but HHS said the rule is to “help to protect these children.”
On Thursday, officials alleged hospitals were fraudulently billing insurance plans for gender-affirming care in order to make a profit. Citing an HHS-commissioned report, Vice President Vance asked DOJ to investigate.
“Some pediatric gender clinics and children’s hospitals have apparently used misleading or even fraudulent diagnostic and billing codes to ensure that insurance companies will cover the procedures,” Vance wrote in a letter to Attorney General Todd Blanche.
The report bolsters the Trump administration’s argument that children are being tricked into gender-affirming care by unscrupulous adults not just because of “woke” ideology but because the adults want to make a profit.
The report was authored by contributors across policy, medicine and media who either represent conservative and religious organizations critical of gender-affirming care or have themselves previously advocated against it.
In addition, the Department of Justice (DOJ) has issued subpoenas to over 20 hospitals, clinics, and doctors nationwide seeking personnel files, patient records, and communications with drug companies, among other demands.
A federal appeals court on Friday upheld a DOJ subpoena against telemedicine provider QueerDoc.
