The Trump administration has continued a broader federal effort to restrict gender-affirming medical care for minors through funding rules, executive actions and regulatory changes. That national policy now intersects directly with Colorado, where the state’s highest court ordered Children’s Hospital Colorado to resume treatment for transgender patients under 18 earlier this year. The latest federal funding move, announced August 11, 2026, raises new questions about how that Colorado order will operate in practice.
Trump administration announces new Medicaid and CHIP funding cutoff
The immediate action came from the Trump administration on August 11, when it said Medicaid will stop paying for gender-affirming surgeries and hormone treatments for transgender minors and that the Children’s Health Insurance Program will no longer cover those treatments for people under 19, according to the Associated Press. The policy is scheduled to take effect October 13, and AP reported that hormone coverage for current patients would be phased out by April 2027 while mental health treatment would remain covered.
That announcement follows earlier federal action aimed at hospitals. In a December 18, 2025 statement, the Department of Health and Human Services said the Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services planned rulemaking to bar hospitals from performing those treatments on children as a condition of participation in Medicare and Medicaid. HHS said nearly all U.S. hospitals participate in those programs and cited claims data showing nearly 14,000 minors received such procedures between 2019 and 2023.
The administration’s position has also been tied to litigation over President Donald Trump’s executive orders. A federal district court in Maryland issued a preliminary injunction on March 4, 2025, barring the government from “conditioning, withholding, or terminating federal funding” for providers based on their provision of gender-affirming care to patients under 19, according to the Fourth Circuit’s May 21, 2026 ruling describing the case.
In Colorado, the key state action came May 18, 2026, when the Colorado Supreme Court ordered Children’s Hospital Colorado to resume gender-affirming medical care for minors, according to the court decision and AP’s reporting. The dispute centered on the hospital’s suspension of puberty blockers and hormone therapy after the federal government opened an investigation and after broader Trump administration actions raised concerns about federal funding.
AP reported that Children’s Hospital Colorado had suspended those medical treatments in January 2026 for patients under 18 while continuing mental health care for minors and medical treatment for patients ages 18 to 21. The Colorado Supreme Court said the hospital had to restore treatment while the underlying discrimination case proceeds. State Attorney General Phil Weiser said at the time that the ruling should give the hospital direction to resume care.
What remains unclear is how many Colorado families will be affected specifically by the new Medicaid and CHIP coverage change, or whether Children’s Hospital Colorado or other providers in the state will alter services again in response. Federal officials have not released a Colorado-specific count of affected patients, and AP reported this week that CMS did not answer questions about how much public funding currently goes to these treatments.
The conflict exists because state and federal directives are moving in different directions. Colorado’s court order requires Children’s Hospital Colorado to resume care under state anti-discrimination law, while the Trump administration has continued using federal health funding policy to discourage or prohibit the same treatments. Court records in the PFLAG case show a federal judge previously blocked the government from withholding funding over such care, but the administration has continued pursuing other policy avenues.
The federal government has framed its actions as patient-safety measures. HHS said in its December 2025 announcement that the proposed rules were designed to protect children and cited its own report questioning the safety and effectiveness of puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones and surgeries for minors. AP also reported that major medical organizations, including the American Medical Association, continue to support access to gender-affirming care, showing that the medical and legal debate remains unresolved.
For Colorado residents, the practical near-term picture is narrow but important. The Colorado Supreme Court’s order requiring Children’s Hospital Colorado to resume care remains part of the state legal landscape, while the newly announced federal Medicaid and CHIP cutoff is set to begin October 13 unless it is delayed or blocked in court. That means access, insurance coverage and provider participation may depend on separate decisions by courts, federal agencies and hospitals in the months ahead.