The Trump administration has finalized a rule that will bar Medicaid from covering pediatric gender treatments for children enrolled in the government’s low-income insurance program.

Details of the Rule

The new policy prohibits states from using federal Medicaid funds to pay for any pediatric gender treatments for enrollees under 18, marking the administration’s latest effort to restrict youth access to these treatments.

President Donald Trump celebrated the move in a social media post, touting it as necessary to crack down on “barbaric surgeries and practices, which result in unthinkable and irreversible harm to their young bodies.”

Democrats and a broad range of medical organizations have denounced the Trump administration’s efforts to restrict pediatric gender treatments as harmful and counterproductive, warning that it will further jeopardize children’s health.

The administration last year floated the potential for a wider effort to restrict pediatric gender treatments for children, including withholding federal funds from hospitals and doctors that continue to offer the treatments.

Under the new policy, states that continue to provide pediatric gender treatments through Medicaid and CHIP would need to finance it themselves, without the aid of federal money that helps pay for a significant share of the insurance programs.

The rule is set to take effect on October 13, according to the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services. For those children who are currently receiving pediatric gender treatments, federal funds will remain available for six months to allow for a “tapering off” period.

Original reporting: KEYT (Ventura/Santa Barbara) — read the source article.