The Trump administration has announced that Medicaid will stop funding pediatric gender treatments, including cross-sex hormones and sex-change surgeries, due to concerns over their safety and efficacy.

Decision Based on Scientific Evidence

According to Dr. Mehmet Oz, Administrator of the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS), the decision is consistent with the administration’s commitment to protecting children from experimental and life-altering procedures that carry serious long-term health risks and lack sufficiently reliable evidence of clinical benefit.

The move comes after years of controversy over the use of taxpayer funds for these procedures, which some conservatives have labeled as ‘experimental’ and ‘potentially irreversible.’ The CMS decision will not affect mental health treatments for gender dysmorphia and other conditions, which will continue to be covered under Medicaid.

Protecting Children’s Health

Secretary of Health and Human Services Robert F. Kennedy Jr. stated that the federal government will no longer use Medicaid and CHIP dollars to fund procedures that fail to meet the evidentiary standard that children deserve. The decision is based on a review of national and international research on sex-change procedures in minors, which identified significant evidence gaps and documented serious safety concerns.

The United Kingdom’s Cass Review, a cornerstone piece of research informing the decision, concluded that research on medical interventions like cross-sex hormones and puberty blockers was limited and not definitive. The report also noted that medical interventions had developed significantly faster than evidence proving those interventions were safe.

Original reporting: Fox News (HLL/CB) — read the source article.