HHS Abandons Proposed Rule Threatening Medicare and Medicaid Funding Cuts Over Gender-Affirming Care
The Department of Health and Human Services will not finalize a proposed rule that threatened to withhold Medicare and Medicaid funding from states and providers offering gender-affirming care to minors. The decision ends what would have been the most aggressive federal attempt to restrict such care nationally through payment policy. The withdrawal means existing Medicaid coverage policies for gender-affirming services remain governed by state discretion and existing federal non-discrimination requirements. No timeline for future rulemaking has been announced.
The decision preserves state authority over Medicaid coverage of gender-affirming care and removes the threat of federal funding cuts that would have created significant financial and operational uncertainty for Medicaid managed care organizations with transgender enrollees.
Behavioral Health · Managed Care
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