The U.S. government finalised a rule on Tuesday (August 11, 2026) barring two major federal health programmes from funding puberty blockers, hormone therapy and surgeries to treat gender dysphoria in minors, reshaping access for low-income youth nationwide.
Trump touts policy on social media
The move marks one of the administration’s most sweeping restrictions yet on transgender healthcare. It forms part of a wider crackdown on transgender policies through the elimination of legal protections in the military, healthcare, education and the workplace. President Donald Trump claimed credit in a Truth Social post, saying he had directed Mr. The administration has moved to bar transgender people from the military, block them from listing their gender identity on passports, and restrict federal workers’ bathroom use.
Roughly a decade after U.S. speciality clinics began offering pediatric gender treatments, the government says it will no longer share the cost for children under 18 in Medicaid and under 19 in CHIP, citing what it called weak evidence of benefit and risks of irreversible harm. More than 90% of about 11,000 public comments opposed the cut; the government finalised it anyway, largely as written. Transgender rights have become a contentious U.S. political issue, with several Republicans campaigning in 2024 on rolling back protections.
“By cutting off federal funds for these sex-rejecting procedures, we’re following the science, saving taxpayer dollars, and, most importantly, protecting children from potentially irreversible harm so they can truly flourish,” Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services Administrator Dr. Mehmet Oz said in a statement. Oz to end funding for what he called “barbaric surgeries and practices” on minors, and urging voters to “remember this” in November’s midterm elections.
Democratic state attorneys general sued in Oregon federal court over an earlier version, calling it an unlawful attempt to dictate medical standards and strip States of authority to regulate medicine.
