Transgender Americans Score Mini-Victory as Medicaid Ban on Gender-Affirming Care is Dropped from Republican "One Big, Beautiful Bill"

A surprise development in the Republican passage of President Donald Trump's "One Big, Beautiful Bill" has given transgender Americans a reason to celebrate. As part of the bill's language aimed at restricting Medicaid coverage for certain groups, an attempt to ban Medicaid from covering gender-affirming care for transgender minors was quietly dropped in the legislative process. Republicans used the process of budget reconciliation to pass the bill without a Democratic filibuster, but this move allowed the Senate Parliamentarian to determine whether the language complied with the Byrd Rule. Initially, the Senate version included similar language, but after Democratic staff argued against it, the Parliamentarian found it did not comply.

Key Takeaways:

• The Republican "One Big, Beautiful Bill" aimed to restrict Medicaid coverage for certain groups, including an attempt to ban Medicaid from covering gender-affirming care for transgender minors.
• The language was quietly dropped in the legislative process after Rep. Dan Crenshaw (R-Texas) made a public statement suggesting that Democrats would have difficulty raising a point of order against it.
• Sen. Ron Wyden (D-Oregon) successfully argued before the Senate parliamentarian to strike the Medicaid ban on gender-affirming care from the bill.
• According to the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law, about 276,000 transgender adults use Medicaid.
• Republicans have focused heavily on anti-trans rhetoric and policy, with numerous state legislatures enacting bans on gender-affirming care for youth with gender dysphoria.

Statistics:

• 276,000: The number of transgender adults using Medicaid, according to the Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law.
• 53: The number of Republican senators who would have been required to pick off seven Democrats in order to pass the amendment.
• 8: The number of hours negotiated between Senate Republicans and Democrats before the final agreement to exclude the language.

Sources:

• [1] The Independent, "Trump's 'One Big, Beautiful Bill' dropped Medicaid ban on gender-affirming care after Senate parliamentarian intervenes" (2023).
• [2] The Williams Institute at UCLA School of Law, "Transgender Adults in the United States" (2022).
• [3] The Independent, "Sen. Ron Wyden argues in favor of Medicaid ban on gender-affirming care" (2023).