SAN DIEGO (KGTV) — Rady Children's Hospital announced it will no longer provide gender-affirming care, following federal threats to cut Medicare and Medicaid funding to hospitals that continue such procedures.
The San Diego hospital said it was placed in an impossible position to either continue offering gender-affirming care or ensure coverage for all the other communities it serves.
In a statement, Rady Children's said the decision came after the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services warned that any hospital that didn't comply with new federal policies would have its federal funding eliminated.
"We just need Rady to fight," said Kathie Moehlig, founder and executive director of TransFamily Support Services. "Not only are they ending care, but they're giving such a short off-ramp for our families as of February 6th. They should have gave at least 60 days so that folks could get that handoff to an appropriate provider."
Moehlig's son Sam was among the first patients treated at Rady's gender clinic 14 years ago. She believes the hospital caved in to federal pressure too early.
"It is an early capitulation to the federal government," Moehlig said. "There are some policies that have been announced. They have not taken effect yet. It really was based on things that are not laws, things that are not finalized, things that are already in litigation to be fought, and the Centers for Medicaid policies that were introduced will be fought once they get past the comment period that we're in right now, until February 17th."
A spokesperson for Rady Children's Hospital said Medicare funding supports patients undergoing procedures like organ transplants, while Medicaid — known as Medi-Cal in California — serves children from certain income levels.
In December of 2025, Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. signed a declaration stating that gender-affirming procedures do not meet professionally recognized standards of health care. HHS stated that according to claims data, nearly 14,000 minors received sex-rejecting procedures between 2019 and 2023. Sex rejecting procedures on children included puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgical operations, and Kennedy Jr. claimed that exposure causes irreversible damage, including infertility, impaired sexual function, diminished bone density, altered brain development, and other irreversible physiological effects.
However, Moehlig argues that gender-affirming care is medically necessary for youth who are seeking to transition.
Moehlig said now that she and her team will focus on helping the hundreds to approximately 1,000 patients at Rady Children's clinic seeking gender-affirming care find new providers, stating there will be many challenges.
"We do have a couple of private practice doctors in San Diego County, but they will not be able to take on the hundreds and hundreds of patients," Moehlig said. "LA County is going to be the next place to be able to go. We also have so many people in San Diego County that Rady was their only provider in-network. So then you're also fighting with your insurance company to go see a provider out of network."
Moehlig has planned a protest at Rady Children's Hospital on Saturday at 11 a.m., saying the hospital needs to hear from the community.
Rady Children's Hospital Full Statement:
The environment around gender-affirming care has changed dramatically, with escalating federal actions. As part of this escalation, we were recently referred to the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services Office of Inspector General for investigation. Taken together, these developments affect our role and responsibilities as a provider participating in federal programs such as Medicaid and Medicare, which are essential to caring for all children and families in our communities. For these reasons, we will no longer be providing gender-affirming medical interventions, procedures , and prescriptions. This was a very difficult decision, made to ensure we can continue serving all children and families across the communities we serve. Our care teams are communicating with affected patients and families to discuss next steps. We continue to provide supportive care, including counseling, mental health resources, and care coordination. We will also help connect families to ongoing resources. We respect the dignity of all patients, including LGBTQ+ patients and transgender youth, and remain committed to providing compassionate, respectful care.
