MaineHealth is not happy that the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) took action to prevent hospitals that perform transgender surgeries on minors from receiving Medicaid funds.
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy announced the changes on Thursday, drawing outrage from Maine Health Medical Group (MHMG) President Aileen Mickey. MHMG includes all MaineHealth hospitals and providers.
“These new rules would require us to discontinue direct provision of gender-affirming medical treatments for patients under 19 within our hospital-licensed settings. However, I want to be unequivocal: we are not abandoning patients and their families,” said Mickey’s letter.
Under the new HHS policy, any hospitals that prescribe puberty blockers or hormone treatments to minors for the purpose of facilitating a gender transition, or perform irreversible surgeries such as mastectomies on minors, will be ineligible to receive federal Medicaid funds.
“Nearly all U.S. hospitals participate in Medicare and Medicaid and this action is designed to ensure that the U.S. government will not be in business with organizations that intentionally or unintentionally inflict permanent harm on children,” said the HHS.
The rules will only go into effect after a 60-day public comment period, which will allow groups like MaineHealth to voice their objections.
MaineHealth pointed out that the new rules will not prohibit “behavioral health support,” and their behavioral health facilities will continue to serve “LGBTQ+ youth.”
The organization said that many of their clinics have already been prescribing the maximum amount of legally allowable cross-sex medication to trans-identifying minors, and place as many refills on file as possible, in an attempt to keep providing the drugs to children while circumventing the new policy.
They are also working to find other ways around the rules by helping patients receive the drugs or treatments at “non-hospital entities,” which are not subject to the HHS policy.
“We have been working on pathways to help families secure safe, evidence-based care outside of MaineHealth where these treatments can legally and ethically continue,” said Mickey.
Parents or guardians of a child receiving transgender treatments will receive additional guidance from the MaineHealth system.
On Wednesday, one day before Secretary Kennedy took regulatory action, the U.S. House voted narrowly to pass a bill that would ban all transgender treatments and surgeries for minors and implement criminal penalties for doctors who provide the treatments.
