Investigate Hospitals Pre-Complying with Proposed Federal Rules

I am writing to urge you to investigate hospitals in our state that have ended gender-affirming care programs for transgender youth in anticipation of federal rules that are not yet law. Hospitals across the country have terminated care for patients under 19, leaving vulnerable young people without medically necessary treatment based solely on the Trump administration's proposed rules from December. The proposed federal rules threatening to strip Medicare and Medicaid funding from hospitals providing gender-affirming care to minors under 18 are not enforceable law. The public comment period closed on February 17, final rules are not expected until spring at the earliest, and the rules likely violate Section 1801 of the Social Security Act, which explicitly bars the federal government from using Medicare or Medicaid regulations to control the practice of medicine. More than 40 hospitals nationwide have capitulated to these threats despite their lack of legal force. These hospitals are discriminating against transgender patients while continuing identical care for cisgender patients. Young people who were receiving treatment have been abandoned mid-care, causing serious harm. In New York, Attorney General Letitia James has already taken decisive action twice, ordering hospitals to resume care or face legal consequences. In her letter to NYU Langone, James made clear that the policy change is "self-imposed" and that "there has been no change in federal law to require the cessation of medically necessary transgender healthcare." I ask that you investigate all hospitals in our state that have pre-complied with proposed federal rules, determine whether they are violating state law, and take enforcement action to restore care for these patients. Our state's civil rights protections must be enforced to protect transgender residents from discrimination based on threats that have no legal force.