Marketplace Morning Report The costs of banning gender-affirming care
Jan 29, 2026
Samantha Fields, a Marketplace reporter who covers how policy affects health care, walks through recent federal actions targeting transition-related services. She reports on proposed HHS rules and executive directives. Short segments describe hospitals pausing care, clinics overwhelmed, and how providers are responding under pressure.
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Federal Pressure Drives Preemptive Suspensions
- The Trump administration's executive order and HHS rule threatened Medicare and Medicaid funding for hospitals offering transition care to minors.
- That federal pressure is prompting hospitals to preemptively suspend services even before rules take effect.
Hospitals Abruptly Stop Youth Care
- Samantha Fields recounts how hospitals began stopping gender-affirming care after federal actions and a proposed HHS rule.
- Casey Cash and Dr. Stacey Johns saw call volumes surge as families sought alternative providers for trans youth.
Small Clinic Overwhelmed By New Demand
- Cash and Johns opened the Iris Center offering primary and gender-affirming care and were overwhelmed by new requests after hospitals paused services.
- They scrambled to triage high volumes while balancing care for their existing cisgender patients.