Children's Wisconsin, UW Health stop providing gender-affirming treatments for minors
WPR • • nation
Key Points:
- Children’s Wisconsin and UW Health have halted gender-affirming care treatments for minors due to recent federal policy changes, specifically the Trump administration’s plan to block Medicaid and Medicare funding for hospitals providing such services to minors.
- Advocates warn that the lack of access to gender-affirming care could worsen mental health outcomes for transgender youth, who already face high rates of suicide ideation and attempts.
- Both health systems emphasized their commitment to supporting LGBTQ+ patients through mental health services, despite pausing pharmacologic treatments like puberty blockers and hormone therapy.
- The federal government, led by Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr., framed the policy as protecting children from “unsafe, irreversible practices,” while advocacy groups criticize it
