Gender-Affirming Care Cut for Minors from Military Families

Trans minors from military families are now barred from receiving gender affirming care under TriCare, the Pentagon’s health insurance provider. The new provision comes as part of the annual National Defense Authorization Act, which was signed into law after President Joe Biden signed the document last week.

The new provision, however, isn’t crystal clear on what exactly is being excluded from coverage. It characterizes gender-affirming care as “sterilizing.” HRT is not explicitly mentioned in the bill, leading some to believe a loophole could prevent the ban from going into effect. However the incoming Trump administration could change the language used to specifically block trans teens from accessing puberty blockers, even though they aren’t thought to cause infertility.

Over 300 LGBTQ+ and humans rights organizations protested against the new law, which easily passed through the House after being voted for by 81 Democrats. It then just barely squeaked by in a tight Senate vote, with four Democratic senators flipping to support the bill.

TriCare is also currently facing criticism from Colorado Senators John Hickenlooper and Michael Bennet for Children’s Hospital Colorado going out of network in the new year. They implored TriCare to “fulfill their duty to military families” in a joint statement. Sixteen thousand children who live in the newly formed West Region, rely on the hospital for its specialized care. But they are now unable to access care at Children’s after the NDAA, along with its new transphobic provision, went into effect for the 2025 fiscal year. The other half of the Anschutz campus, UCHealth, will remain covered under TriWest, the company that serves the western portion of the coverage area.

The new restriction on gender affirming care hardly sets a precedent for the US military’s association with homophobia and transphobia. The government’s attitude towards LGBTQ+ service members and their families has not been friendly, and legislation that targets the queer community has bounced around the chambers of Congress for years. Congressmen Marco Rubio of Florida and Jim Banks of Indiana introduced a bill last year prohibiting trans people from joining the military. The measure did not pass, but is a haunting reminder of the past when queer service members were discriminated against by the Trump Administration.

The Act went into effect last October at the start of the new fiscal year, with over 6,000 military families now lacking the essential treatment for their trans teens.

Photo courtesy of social media 

Correction: Following the publication of this post, we learned that Children’s Colorado signed an agreement with TriWest to remain in-netwoek with TRICARE.