A federal judge has ruled that HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. exceeded his authority by issuing a declaration late last year that threatened to withhold federal funding from hospitals that offer certain gender-affirming care to minors, The New York Times reported March 19.
In a March 19 decision, Judge Mustafa T. Kasubhai determined Mr. Kennedy lacked the legal authority to declare that providers of gender-transition treatments for minors “do not meet professionally recognized standards of healthcare.” The Dec. 18 declaration said HHS may exclude any providers who do not meet these standards from participating in federal healthcare programs.
Twenty states led by Democratic governors and Washington, D.C., filed a federal lawsuit against the administration Dec. 23. The lawsuit argued that Mr. Kennedy’s actions violated the Administrative Procedure Act — which requires federal agencies to follow specific rulemaking procedures — along with Medicare and Medicaid statutes, including requirements for notice-and-comment rulemaking. They also alleged the declaration violated Congress’ prohibition on federal leaders exercising “any supervision or control over the practice of medicine.”
The federal government argued that Mr. Kennedy’s declaration was a “non-binding policy position” in which he is entitled to share his opinion on gender-affirming care.
The judge granted summary judgment to the states and denied the Trump administration’s motion to dismiss the case.
Alongside the declaration, HHS proposed regulations that would end Medicare and Medicaid payments for all medical services to hospitals that provide gender-affirming care to minors. In response to the declaration and proposed regulations, many hospitals and health systems nationwide have limited or paused gender-affirming care programs for minors, the Times reported.
At present, 27 Republican-led states ban gender-affirming treatments for minors. Gender-affirming treatments remain legal in the plaintiff states.
Editor’s note: Becker’s has reached out to HHS for comment and will update the article if more information becomes available.
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