HHS Drops Plan to Withhold Funding Over Gender-Affirming Care

Why it matters locally: The HHS decision means healthcare providers in South Dakota will not face potential federal funding cuts through Medicare and Medicaid for offering gender-affirming care to minors. This impacts how state hospitals, including those receiving federal funds, can approach such services without new federal financial pressures.

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WASHINGTON – The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) has opted not to advance a proposal that would have permitted the agency to withhold Medicare and Medicaid funding from hospitals providing gender-affirming care to minors. This decision means the plan, considered the agency's most direct effort to restrict such care across the nation, will not be finalized. The proposed directive aimed to establish conditions under which hospitals could lose essential federal funding. The agency's current stance represents a reversal of its earlier intention to implement these sanctions. NPR first reported the department's decision.