Morning Briefing
Summaries of health policy coverage from major news organizations
CMS Warns It May Soon Update Policies To Prevent 'Mutilation' Of Trans Kids
Fierce Healthcare: CMS Tells Hospitals It 'May' Implement New Gender-Affirming Care Policies
The Centers for Medicare & Medicaid Services (CMS) took early steps this week to pressure hospitals against the delivery of gender-affirming care to children and adolescents—a key policy of the Trump administration that has so far faced pushback from blue states, transgender rights advocates and the courts. Wednesday, the agency sent a special alert to hospitals across the country that it “may begin taking steps to appropriately update its policies to protect children from chemical and surgical mutilation,” language the White House has used in executive orders to describe hormonal treatments and surgical procedures used in transition-related care. (Muoio, 3/6)
Stat: NIH Puts Former Sexual & Gender Minority Office Employees On Leave
Employees at the National Institutes of Health who formerly worked at the agency’s Sexual & Gender Minority Research Office were suddenly put on administrative leave Tuesday, according to three sources with knowledge of the situation. (Gaffney, 3/6)
Stat: 'Gender Ideology' Debate Hurting Basic Research On Women's Health
David Page’s bio reads like a history of science in the age of genomics. In 1979 he was the first student to work on what we now know as the Human Genome Project. He then became a fellow at the Whitehead Institute for Biomedical Research before joining its faculty (and MIT’s), and later served as Whitehead’s president for 16 years. He’s mapped, cloned, and published the complete genomic sequence of the Y chromosome. Now back in his lab post-presidency, he studies how male and female cells, tissues, and organs are and aren’t essentially the same. (Cooney, 3/7)
Related news from Georgia, Colorado, and California —
Los Angeles Times: Newsom Says Trans Athletes’ Participation In Women’s Sports Is ‘Deeply Unfair’
California Gov. Gavin Newsom — an outspoken champion of LGBTQ+ rights since he was mayor of San Francisco — called transgender athletes’ participation in women’s sports “deeply unfair” in his new podcast Thursday, splitting from his party on an issue that Republicans capitalized on in the presidential election. (Luna and Willon, 3/6)
AP: Georgia Lawmakers Spurn DEI Ban And Consider Sports Betting At Deadline
Georgia lawmakers failed on Thursday to push forward a ban on diversity efforts in public schools and colleges and won’t let voters decide a constitutional amendment that could legalize sports gambling. It was the last day for legislation to pass either the House or Senate and advance to the other legislative chamber for consideration this session. Some top proposals moved ahead earlier, including an effort to limit lawsuits and a school safety bill that supporters hope will prevent school shootings. House lawmakers pushed ahead income tax cuts and rebates on Thursday. (3/7)
The Colorado Sun: Colorado May Soon Add Gender Identity To Death Certificates
A new category may soon be added to Colorado death certificates — gender. The update is meant to recognize the identity of the deceased while also satisfying the needs of researchers. But already it’s become a fault line between conservatives and progressives in the state legislature. (Sisk, 3/7)
