Travis Jackson discusses CMS gender-affirming care rule with STAT

In a recent STAT article, Travis Jackson discusses the legal durability of a new CMS rule barring federal Medicaid and CHIP funding for pediatric gender-affirming care.

Travis notes that by running the rule through the standard notice-and-comment process, the agency appears to be positioning it to withstand court challenges better than the administration’s earlier efforts in this area. He also points out that the rule’s reliance on the president’s executive order is only partly settled, since a challenge to the Medicaid-related provisions could still emerge now that the rule has been finalized: “they are correct, but they could also be wrong.”

Looking ahead, Travis suggests this rule may serve as a legal test case for a related, more sweeping proposal restricting Medicaid participation for hospitals that provide gender-affirming care to minors.