US EditionChildren's Wisconsin Halts Gender-Affirming Care over 'Escalating Legal and Federal Regulatory Risk'
Hospitals paused puberty blockers and hormone therapy for minors due to legal risks from a proposed federal rule that would cut Medicaid and Medicare funding, officials said.
- Updated Jan. 12, 2026, two of Wisconsin's largest pediatric systems, Children’s Wisconsin and UW Health, paused gender-affirming pharmacologic care for minors while continuing behavioral health services.
- On Dec. 18, the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services proposed barring Medicare and Medicaid payments to hospitals providing gender-affirming care to children, with HHS saying some procedures are unsafe and ineffective.
- Families started receiving calls last week saying providers `are no longer allowed to provide gender-affirming care`, while UW Health and Sara Benzel confirmed pausing puberty blocker prescriptions for under-18s and Fitchburg Family Pharmacy said it will continue prescribing.
- Sources said the pauses have eroded trust between health care providers and families, while parents warned abrupt interruptions risk clinical complications and advocates say risks of anxiety and suicidality increase for transgender and nonbinary youth.
- Attorneys general from 18 states and the District of Columbia have sued the administration while advocates urged comments to the Federal Register by Feb. 17; the American Academy of Pediatrics continues to support access.
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UW Health, Children's Wisconsin pause gender-affirming care for minors after HHS directive
The HHS directive said the federal government would deny Medicaid and Medicare payments to hospitals and clinics if they provided minors gender affirming care.
Two hospital systems in Wisconsin pause gender-affirming care treatment for minors
MILWAUKEE — Two of Wisconsin’s largest hospital systems serving children will stop providing gender-affirming care treatment to minors. The decisions by Children’s Wisconsin and UW Health come after the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) proposed new rulemaking in December to “bar hospitals from performing sex-rejecting procedures on children under age 18 as a condition of participation in Medicare and Medicaid programs”. The Cen…
Family says Rady Children’s Hospital canceled teen’s gender-affirming care
A San Diego family says they are in crisis after Rady Children’s Hospital canceled their teenager’s gender-affirming care, including a surgery that was scheduled just weeks away. The family says the decision came as the Trump administration moves to stop transgender care for minors by cutting off federal funding from hospitals that provide the care. Fifteen-year-old Enfys Zerlaut — formerly Evelyn — came out as nonbinary about four years ago to …
Fair Wisconsin: Releases statement calling on elected leaders to stop attacking transgender Wisconsinites and instead, do their jobs
Facing another hearing on three more bills targeting Wisconsin’s transgender community, the decision by two Wisconsin hospitals to stop providing gender-affirming care for youth under threat from the federal government, new rules from the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services...
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