Overview
- Both systems say providers will stop writing new prescriptions and renewing existing prescriptions for patients under 18, with behavioral health and supportive services continuing.
- HHS General Counsel Mike Stuart referred Children’s Hospital Colorado to the department’s Office of Inspector General after Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. declared youth treatments not safe or effective.
- Kennedy’s declaration underpins proposed regulations that would make hospitals ineligible for any Medicare or Medicaid payments if they offer gender-affirming care to minors.
- Colorado is part of a coalition of 19 states and the District of Columbia suing to block HHS’s actions, arguing the department is coercing providers and bypassing required rulemaking.
- Children’s Hospital Colorado says it has never performed gender-affirming surgeries on minors, and Denver Health says it stopped such surgeries in early 2025, while adult care remains available.