TL/DR –
The largest pediatric healthcare system in California, Rady Children’s Health, is set to stop providing gender-affirming medical care to transgender youth. This comes as the organization faces increasing pressure from the federal government, along with a potential investigation from the US Department of Health and Human Services. The move has sparked protests and criticism from LGBTQ+ advocates who believe this change will greatly affect transgender individuals’ access to healthcare.
California’s Largest Pediatric Healthcare System Halts Gender-Affirming Care
California’s largest pediatric healthcare system, Rady Children’s Health, has announced it will cease providing gender-affirming care for transgender youth amid growing pressure from the federal government. The system includes Children’s Hospital of Orange County, Rady Children’s Hospital San Diego, and Rady Children’s in Riverside County.
The U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General, which supervises Medicare and Medicaid programs, recently referred the organization for an investigation. However, the federal agency did not provide details regarding the investigation’s timeline or focus.
Starting from February 6, patients at the above-mentioned facilities will no longer receive gender-affirming care, including prescriptions for puberty blockers, according to advocacy sources. This leaves patients without access to a specialized medical professional to guide them through the process of discontinuing the medication.
Rady Children’s Health declared in a statement that the climate around gender-affirming care has evolved significantly due to intensifying federal actions, impacting their participation in federal programs like Medicaid and Medicare.
Potential New Rules Prohibiting Gender-Affirming Care
In December, HHS announced that the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services were contemplating new rules that would prohibit gender-affirming care by medical providers involved in its programs. These rules would also prohibit Medicaid and other funding from being used for gender-affirming care for children or adults under 19 years old.
Rady Children’s Health described their decision to stop providing such medical interventions as “very difficult”, but necessary to continue serving all children and families across their communities.
LGBTQ+ advocacy organizations claim that this development illustrates ongoing attempts by the Trump administration to undermine access to services for transgender people, arguing these are backed by major U.S. medical associations.
Increasing Pressure Leads Hospitals to Cut Back on Gender-Affirming Care
Many hospitals, including those in California, have already reduced gender-affirming care or closed entire programs in response to increasing federal pressure. This includes Children’s Hospital Los Angeles, which once hosted one of the largest and oldest pediatric gender clinics in the U.S.
Reduced access to care has forced transgender children and their families to relocate, sometimes out-of-state or abroad, to seek medical care. Advocacy organizations like OCGAPNet and Pride at the Pier argue that such policies send a damaging message denying the right of transgender people, especially youth, to access healthcare.
These advocacy groups, among others, are organizing rallies outside Children’s Hospital of Orange County and Rady Children’s Hospital in San Diego in a bid to urge hospital leadership to defy federal pressure.
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