1. United States
2. Md.
3. Letter

The newly released House HHS appropriations bill is an unjust attack on the healthcare of transgender Americans, and must not be passed. The provisions would immediately strip Medicaid and Medicare coverage for gender-affirming care if passed by both chambers of Congress and signed into law. Earlier this year, Trump wielded Medicaid and Medicare funds as a weapon to scare hospitals into halting youth gender-affirming care—without even having the backing of a statutory provision like the one now moving through Congress. His administration reportedly threatened to cut off all Medicaid and Medicare reimbursements for any procedure at hospitals that continued providing such care to minors. Armed with this budgetary provision, his administration could pressure hospitals and clinics—just as it has already done with youth gender care providers—by threatening to pull federal dollars unless they comply with sweeping anti-trans policies. Importantly, the funding ban would cover all forms of gender-affirming care, including “social” or “psychological” interventions. That language sweeps far beyond medical treatment and could place adult psychological support, therapy, and counseling directly in the crosshairs, along with any federally funded effort deemed “social” in nature. In practice, “social” care often refers to basic steps like updating names in official systems, changing gender markers, or affirming identity in institutional settings. Under this provision, the Trump administration could interpret even those routine measures as violations, weaponizing the ban to choke off critical funding for any entity deemed out of compliance. These attacks on transgender healthcare must not be allowed to pass. You have the power to hold firm and demand that these poison-pill riders never reach final passage.