HHS Drops Plan to Withhold Funding Over Gender-Affirming Care

Why it matters locally: The decision by HHS to not withhold Medicare and Medicaid funding for gender-affirming care impacts healthcare providers and patients in North Carolina, ensuring continued access to federal funding for these services within the state's healthcare systems.

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.