OAN Staff Blake Wolf and Brooke Mallory
4:42 PM – Friday, May 23, 2025
President Donald Trump’s recently passed “One Big Beautiful Bill” bans Medicaid from covering “gender-affirming care” for both minors and adults who struggle with gender dysphoria.
Gender dysphoria is a psychological disorder where a person experiences significant distress or discomfort since their gender “identity” (what they feel “inside,” in relation to being male or female) doesn’t align with their biological sex.
In the initial version of the bill, Medicaid coverage for transgender “gender-affirming care” was restricted solely for minors. However, a subsequent revision expanded the ban to encompass all individuals, effectively prohibiting Medicaid coverage for such medical treatment regardless of age.
Conservatives have cheered on the passing of the bill, especially in regard to Medicaid no longer covering transgender surgeries and hormones.
Many have highlighted that transgender-related procedures are typically expensive, while asserting that taxpayers shouldn’t be required to fund treatments that are not medically necessary. Additionally, since biological sex is immutable, “gender-affirming care” is seen as affirming a mental falsehood — which the government should not subsidize.
Regarding minors, many also argue that children should not be able to give informed consent to life-altering procedures, as Medicaid coverage incentivizes premature or irreversible decisions.
“As the conservative conscience of the GOP conference, we will continue our fight to be the voice for countless Americans who feel that Washington’s policies do not represent them,” the House Freedom Caucus wrote in an X post on Thursday.
The bill passed in the House on Thursday morning by a vote of 215-214. All Democrats voted against it, with two Republicans also voting no, along with House Freedom Caucus Chair Andy Rarris (R-Md.) voting “present.”
The bill repeals legislation previously signed by former Democrat President Barack Obama under the Affordable Care Act, reversing the policy of “gender transition procedures” that had counted as an “essential health benefit.”
Trump’s bill essentially prohibits public health insurance from funding puberty blockers, hormone therapy, and transgender surgeries for all Americans. Following the announcement, leftists, liberals, and progressive lawmakers erupted in fury.
“There’s a wildly strong case for this to be discrimination – it is discrimination,” stated Caleb Smith, the director of LGBTQI+ policy at the Center for American Progress. “It really clearly violates equal protection because what we’re saying, essentially, is that if you are a cisgender man and you want access to testosterone, you can have it, but if you are a transgender man and you want access to testosterone, ‘Sorry, we’re not going to cover that,’” he added.
According to a report by the Williams Institute in 2022, 276,000 transgender-identifying adults were enrolled in Medicaid.
Transgender Rep. Sarah McBride (D-Del.) quickly slammed the Trump-backed legislation, stating: “It’s one more example of health care that they’re trying to rip away.” Additionally, Rep. Mark Pocan (D-Wis.) added: “The entire thing’s a s*** show… There’s so much that’s problematic, but I’m counting on the adults in the Senate to fix what the House Republicans have screwed up.”
Despite backlash from lefty activists and Democrats, a recent Pew Research Center survey found that the majority of Americans support the introduction of restrictions on transgender individuals. The survey, published in February, found that 66% of U.S. adults support transgender athletes only playing on teams that match their biological sex, as well as 56% of Americans supporting banning “gender-affirming care” for minors whose brains are still developing.
The bill now moves into the Senate, where GOP senators look to pass the legislation with a simple majority vote — known as a reconciliation.
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