Virginia Ends Medicaid Coverage of Gender-Affirming Care for Minors
A federal HHS rule that took effect Oct. 13 bars Medicaid and CHIP funds from covering gender-affirming care, such as puberty blockers, hormone therapy, or surgery, for people under 18 on Medicaid and under 19 on CHIP. Virginia's Department of Medical Assistance Services notified stakeholders in late September that it would stop administering these funds once the rule took effect, affecting an estimated 133,000 transgender youth nationally in states without existing bans. The ACLU of Virginia and Equality Virginia argue the state violated its own procedural rules in complying and are urging Gov. Spanberger's administration and the legislature to create state-funded replacement coverage, citing a similar move Virginia made to backfill expiring ACA subsidies. Virginia is also among 22 states suing to challenge the HHS rule, and Spanberger's office says any replacement funding would need to come from the legislature, which faces a separate $2-6 billion projected revenue loss from other federal Medicaid changes starting in 2028.