INTRO

This Week in Well Beings News

This week, federal lawmakers escalated their assault on gender-affirming care—and made clear that adults are next. From Medicaid bans to data surveillance, the scope of the threat is growing. But courts are pushing back, new research is reinforcing what we already know, and trans people are defending their rights—and their lives. Let’s get into it.

NEWS

Medicare Ban a Sign of What’s to Come

A late change to the GOP-backed tax and immigration bill passed by the House this week removes Medicaid coverage for gender transition care for people of all ages, expanding previous proposals that targeted only minors. This sweeping prohibition stems from amendments introduced to satisfy conservative holdouts and aligns with broader Republican efforts to restrict transgender healthcare.

While transition care is recognized as medically necessary by major medical associations, Republican lawmakers argue it is unproven and risky. The new legislation also modifies the Affordable Care Act to prevent states from classifying such procedures as essential health benefits starting in 2027, potentially increasing patients' out-of-pocket costs. Advocates warn of the severe physical and psychological impacts this ban could have, with concern that it will lead providers to stop providing the services altogether. This is, arguably, the end game—to criminalize all gender-affirming care, first for children, and then for adults as well.

With the Senate expected to extensively revise the bill, there is hope the Medicaid provision might be removed. The fight is far from over, so strap on your protest shoes and find out how you can help.

Utah Lawmakers Ignore Own Science

Back in 2023, when Republicans in Utah passed a law banning gender-affirming care for minors, it was ostensibly provisional, awaiting the results of a study they commissioned at the same time. Today, those masks are off. The study is complete, and in its over 1000 pages, it concludes that being able to access gender-affirming care as a minor improved overall mental health and psychosocial functioning outcomes, as well as lowering suicide risk.

If Rep. Mike Kennedy, a physician, attorney, and sponsor of the ban, was being truthful when he said that, “compassion and love are at the base of all of this” and that all he needed was evidence of efficacy, we should see the law quickly overturned. I wouldn’t hold your breath, though.

In the Courts (and Out of Them)

A federal judge has ruled that the Trump administration violated American’s First Amendment rights when they removed two medical research papers references transgender people from the Patient Safety Network (PSNet) website, part of the Agency for Healthcare Research and Quality (AHRQ) after a lawsuit brought by Harvard physicians Dr. Gordon Schiff and Dr. Celeste Royce. An injunction requiring their restoration has been issued.

Meanwhile, the Supreme Court is preparing to hear arguments over a case brought by a man trying to invalidate the requirements that his employee insurance program cover HIV prevention medication PrEP. He is arguing that access to the medication encourages homosexuality, to which he is opposed. We’ll have updates after a ruling is made.

Healthcare in the Crosshairs

For Erin in the Morning, Alejandra Caraballo writes about the ways that government officials are using prescription medication data to target medical professionals, most recently doctors in Texas providing hormonal gender-affirming care to minors. This tactic will undoubtedly be used to target other forms of gender-affirming and reproductive healthcare going forward.

And while government sets their sights on trans people, an increasing number of trans people are getting sights of their own. Gun ownership among trans Americans has risen dramatically since the November election. While it’s understandable that transgender people in increasingly hostile environments feel a desire to defend themselves, it is also concerning given statistics around gun ownership and death by suicide, considering transgender people are already at increased risk.

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