What's Happening with Trans Healthcare?

Unpacking this week's HHS Rule

Hi, lovely people. I know there’s been a lot of tough news lately around healthcare, so we’re going to take some time this week to talk about what’s going on. I’ll breaking down the bad news, bring you some good news, and share resources if you’re impacted by the recent rule.

nice art brings me peace these days. Here’s “The Artists Garden at Eragny” by Camille Pissaro from 1898

Let’s start with unpacking the bad news. On Tuesday evening, HHS issued a new rule banning federal funding for gender affirming care for youth under 18 through medicaid and under 19 through CHIP. (If you’ve seen other headlines about HHS and gender affirming care lately, these have been proposals or letters. This is the first rule actually to go into effect—this one on October 13th.

What the rule doesn’t do:

• The rule has no impact on the use of a given state’s allocated medicaid and CHIP funding, so some families may still be able to receive coverage of care

• It won’t stop hrt care right away; the rule includes a 6-month grace period of coverage after the 10/13 start date for hormone therapy that’s already been started

• While the rule will make gender affirming care more difficult to access, it is not a ban and has no civil or criminal penalties for providers, parents, or patients.

On a larger scale, something worth noting is that this rule is one of two originally proposed by HHS. There was a second rule that was much, much worse but after a string of court losses and nearly 30,000 public comments against its proposal, that rule was quietly scrapped last month. This was cause for a huge sigh of relief.

HHS and the DOJ have spent most of the second Trump presidency using that potential rule as a blunt force weapon to intimidate hospitals into precomplying and stopping care as we’ve seen around the country. The rule they have finalized, while still terrible, is nowhere near as bad.

That said, some hospitals may use this as an excuse to stop providing care even though it does not in any way require them to do so. If you have a first hand account of a hospital that has stopped providing care due to this rule, please let me know and I will connect you to the appropriate resources ASAP. Knowledge is power!!

Resources:

• For trans youth and their families struggling to access care due to cost, state restrictions, or a lack of nearby hospitals providing care: https://southernequality.org/tyep/

• For trans adults struggling with access to non-medical transition resources like IDs, wigs, medical tattooing, prosthetics, and more, Point of Pride has opened up applications for their annual THRIVE fund with microgrants to trans folks up to $2,500 each. Applications are open until August 31st! Throughout the year, they also have lots of other applications for grants to cover HRT, surgery, shapewear, and more.

• Do you have other resources you’d like to share? Let us know in the comments!

Knowledge is Power!

“Staying Informed” can feel like a daunting, torturous prospect these days. For me, I lean heavily towards learning about problems from the people already working on solutions. I love attending the various webinars held by organizations I believe in that focus less on fearmongering and more on the actions I can feel empowered to take.

If you feel overwhelmed or frightened thinking about what the future of trans healthcare in the US might be, I encourage you to learn more from folks who are deeply in the know. In a few weeks, FUTR (families united for trans rights), is hosting a phenomenal webinar on the present and future of healthcare in the trans community. The event will be held Wednesday, August 26, from 8:00 - 9:00 p.m. ET / 5:00 - 6:00 p.m. PT, featuring Dr. Diane Ehrensaft (founder of the UCSF Adolescent and Gender Center) and Kellan Baker (Senior Advisor for Health Policy at the Movement Advancement Project).

Last but certainly not least, a few quick hits of great news stories:

1. In Michigan, Joanna Whaley has won her primary and become the first trans woman nominated to the state legislative body!

2. The inimitable KB Brookins has a great roundup of all the wonderful trans news that doesn’t suck here:

   We Love You, Cheryl Reeve

3. PFLAG National has launched a great new voting campaign called “Turning Pride Into Power!” If you’re looking to get more involved as a queer person or ally, consider joining your local chapter and getting involved with the campaign!

That’s all I’ve got for you today. Keep finding ways to build empowerment and community—sitting at home alone is a surefire way to make us think we’re isolated and powerless.

I’m also working on another deep dive piece to come out some time next week. Which of the following would be most interesting to you?

Okay, thanks y’all! I couldn’t do this without your support, and I promise there will always be more good news to share. Don’t give up hope.

All my love,

Ben