CMS Proposes New Gender Transition Care Restrictions

The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) on Dec. 18 published two proposed rules that would prohibit the use of taxpayer dollars for certain "sex-rejecting procedures" (SRPs), also referred to as gender transition care.

The first proposed rule relates to hospital conditions of participation (CoP) for Medicare and Medicaid. Under the proposed CoP, CMS would define SRPs as "any pharmaceutical or surgical intervention that attempts to align an individual's physical appearance or body with a stated identity that differs from the individual's sex." Hospitals that participate in Medicaid and Medicare would be prohibited from performing SRPs on any child, defined as an individual younger than 18.

The second proposed rule establishes funding prohibitions for SRPs for a child under 18 in Medicaid and under 19 in the Children's Health Insurance Program.

Comments on both proposed rules are due Feb. 17.

Contact Director of Policy Rob Nelb, MPH, at [email protected] or 202.585.0127 with questions.