特朗普政府于周二敲定一项新规，禁止联邦医疗补助计划（Medicaid）为低收入未成年参保人报销性别认同相关医疗服务。
这项新政策规定，各州不得动用联邦医疗补助资金，为 18 岁以下参保者支付任何跨性别相关诊疗费用，这也是该政府一系列限制未成年人获取跨性别医疗服务的最新举措。
特朗普在个人社交平台 “真实社交” 发文，对新规表示支持，称出台该规定是为遏制 “残忍的变性手术与相关诊疗手段，这类行为会给青少年身体造成难以挽回、不堪设想的伤害”。
特朗普写道：“想想有多少懵懂无辜、内心迷茫的孩子能因此免遭伤害！”
临近中期选举，特朗普刻意将未成年人跨性别医疗议题作为核心竞选话题。他时常以极具冲击力的措辞描述相关诊疗，还在无任何证据支撑的情况下宣称，大量青少年在家长不知情时被诱导私下接受性别转换治疗。
民主党及众多权威医疗机构均谴责该限制政策弊大于利、危害青少年身心健康，警示此举会进一步损害未成年人健康。
去年，特朗普政府就放出风声，计划出台更严苛的管控措施限制未成年人跨性别医疗，包括切断为相关手术提供诊疗的医院、医生的联邦资金补助。
而联邦医疗保险和医疗补助服务中心（CMS）周二落地的新规，管控对象聚焦依靠联邦资金补贴、面向低收入群体的医保报销服务。根据新规，若各州仍通过医疗补助计划、儿童健康保险计划（CHIP）为未成年人提供跨性别医疗保障，相关费用需由各州全额自行承担，无法再申请联邦配套资金 —— 联邦资金原本承担该医保项目的大部分开支。联邦医疗保险和医疗补助服务中心在声明中补充，此项资金禁令不适用于未成年人心理健康诊疗。
联邦医疗保险和医疗补助服务中心表示，新规将于 10 月 13 日正式生效。正在接受跨性别医疗的未成年人可享受 6 个月过渡期，过渡期内仍能使用联邦资金报销，方便逐步终止相关诊疗保障。
Trump administration bans the use of federal Medicaid funds to cover gender identity healthcare
The Trump administration on Tuesday finalized a rule that will bar Medicaid from covering gender identity healthcare for children enrolled in the government’s low－income insurance program．
The new policy prohibits states from using federal Medicaid funds to pay for any gender identity care for enrollees under 18， marking the administration’s latest effort to restrict youth access to transgender healthcare．
President Donald Trump celebrated the move in a Truth Social post， touting it as necessary to crack down on “barbaric surgeries and practices， which result in unthinkable and irreversible harm to their young bodies．”
“Just think about all the young， innocent， and perhaps confused children who will be spared！” Trump wrote on social media．
The president has sought to make transgender care a central issue in the run－up to the midterms， frequently describing such gender identity healthcare procedures in graphic terms and claiming， without evidence， that swaths of children are being pressured to secretly transition without their parents’ knowledge．
Democrats and a broad range of medical organizations have denounced the Trump administration’s efforts to restrict transgender healthcare procedures as harmful and counterproductive， warning that it will further jeopardize children’s health．
The administration last year floated the potential for a wider effort to restrict gender identity healthcare for children， including withholding federal funds from hospitals and doctors that continue to offer the procedures．
But the rule finalized Tuesday by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services instead targets coverage provided to low－income enrollees that is funded in part by the federal government．Under the new policy， states that continue to provide transgender care through Medicaid and CHIP would need to finance it themselves， without the aid of federal money that helps pay for a significant share of the insurance programs． In a statement， CMS said that the funding ban would not apply to mental health services for children．
The rule is set to take effect on October 13， according to CMS． For those children who are currently receiving gender identity care， federal funds will remain available for six months to allow for a “tapering off” period．
