Rocky Mountain Voice

Tag: Puberty Blockers

New Federal Rule Ends Medicaid Funding for Some Youth Gender Treatments in Colorado
The Colorado Sun, Approved, State

New Federal Rule Ends Medicaid Funding for Some Youth Gender Treatments in Colorado

By John Ingold | The Colorado Sun The new rule blocks federal dollars from being spent on the care. The change will affect hundreds of transgender youth in Colorado. Colorado will suspend Medicaid coverage for hormone therapy and other gender-affirming care for transgender youth due to a new federal rule, the state agency that oversees the program said. The rule, finalized earlier this month, blocks federal funds from being used to pay for the care for youth. Specifically, the rule applies to coverage for people under 18 who are covered by Medicaid and people under 19 who are covered by a companion program called CHIP, which in Colorado is known as CHP+. The rule affects coverage for hormone therapy and puberty blockers, as well as other procedures. It do...
Federal Fraud Task Force Targets Billing Practices Behind Pediatric Gender Treatments
Daily Wire, Approved, National

Federal Fraud Task Force Targets Billing Practices Behind Pediatric Gender Treatments

By Mary Margaret Olohan | The Daily Wire Vice President JD Vance’s Fraud Task Force is referring a number of hospitals and clinics to the Justice Department and the HHS Inspector General for possible violations of federal law. Those hospitals have billed millions of dollars in insurance claims for puberty blockers for children, according to a new Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) report. Now the Trump administration is investigating. HHS released “Wolves in White Coats: How Doctors and Hospitals Pushed and Profited from the Fraud of ‘Gender Medicine'” on Thursday morning. The report examines insurance coding, financial incentives, and the “provision” of transgender medical procedures for minors, including puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgeries....
Colorado Built a Taxpayer-Funded System to Transition Children While Sidelining Parents
The Federalist, Approved, State

Colorado Built a Taxpayer-Funded System to Transition Children While Sidelining Parents

By Breccan F. Thies | Commentary, The Federalist Colorado medical students are taught that children as young as 18 months old can ‘distinguish between gender identities,’ and by six years old, ‘develop his or her own gender identity.’ Colorado has been using taxpayer dollars to groom children into believing they are “transgender” and point them to mutilation surgeries, emphasizing that many do not need parental consent. According to a new report from Do No Harm, Colorado spends millions of dollars on government programs, social media influencer campaigns, and medical school curriculums all aimed at convincing children they are a different gender, pointing them toward medicalization, and bullying the parents who do not want to destroy their children. Colorad...
Children’s Hospital Colorado insurance data tells one story—its testimony another.
Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Children’s Hospital Colorado insurance data tells one story—its testimony another.

By Kelly Notarfrancesco | Contributing Writer, Rocky Mountain Voice Hundreds of children were provided puberty blockers or cross-sex hormones by Children’s Hospital Colorado’s TRUE Center for Gender Diversity annually in 2024 and 2025 — in numbers that may be more than 35 times higher than those previously reported in 2024 by medical watchdog group Do No Harm. Do No Harm (DNH) analyzed five years of insurance data and demonstrated an average of 22 minor patients per year had received either puberty blockers or hormone therapy at Children’s from 2019-2023. DNH’s analysis led it to place Children’s on its “Dirty Dozen” list of the 12 worst-offending children’s hospitals promoting sex change treatments for minors.  The stark difference between Children’s self-reported number...
Approved HHS Gender Medicine Review Stands Firm After Peer Scrutiny, Reaffirms Evidence of Harm
Just The News, Approved, National

Approved HHS Gender Medicine Review Stands Firm After Peer Scrutiny, Reaffirms Evidence of Harm

By Greg Piper | Just the News Final version, written mostly by "liberals," makes small changes and answers critics including American Psychiatric Association. "It is fair to say that their work has withstood scrutiny," Washington Post editorial board says. Social scientist Lisa Littman put a target on her back seven years ago by documenting "rapid-onset gender dysphoria" in youth, prompting her to leave Brown University after the Ivy League school tried to discredit her research by implying her study was retracted rather than slightly revised.  Another publisher retracted a subsequent ROGD paper under threat of an academic boycott and a demand to fire the journal's editor, gender dysphoria research pioneer Kenneth Zucker, claiming it lacked "informe...
When biology meets ideology: Why transgenderism is rooted in magical thinking
American Thinker, Approved, Commentary, National

When biology meets ideology: Why transgenderism is rooted in magical thinking

By Brian C. Joondeph, M.D. | Commentary, American Thinker Magical thinking, according to Google’s AI overview, “is a cognitive distortion where a person believes their thoughts, wishes, or actions can directly influence external events, often without a logical connection.” It’s also known as superstitious thinking. We all see it in children when they knock on wood to invite good luck or when they worry about stepping on a crack. Athletes wear the same socks during games because they believe it helps them win. For kids, magical thinking is a way to handle a complicated and confusing world. But when it continues into adulthood, clinicians classify it as a psychiatric disorder. Schizophrenia, for example, is defined by the ICD-10 medical codebook as a disorder ...
6–3 SCOTUS ruling affirms states’ right to ban transgender care for minors
The Epoch Times, National

6–3 SCOTUS ruling affirms states’ right to ban transgender care for minors

By Sam Dorman, Matthew Vadum | Epoch Times The court’s 6–3 ruling means other states that have passed or considered laws similar to Tennessee’s will likely survive legal challenges. The Supreme Court has issued a major decision upholding Tennessee’s ban on so-called gender-affirming care, such as puberty blockers and cross-sex hormones, for minors. Its decision on June 18 will likely influence how states craft legislation and how other gender-related cases unfold in the legal system. In the case United States v. Skrmetti, a majority of the justices disagreed with the Biden administration’s argument that Tennessee’s law should undergo more rigorous scrutiny in the courts. Instead, Chief Justice John Roberts said in his majority opinion that courts should apply a less rigorous stand...
Cole: The hidden risks of gender-affirming care demand Colorado’s restraint
Approved, Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice, State, Top Stories

Cole: The hidden risks of gender-affirming care demand Colorado’s restraint

By Shaina Cole | Guest Commentary, Rocky Mountain Voice Colorado has embraced gender-affirming care for minors, covering treatments like puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and, in rare cases, surgeries through Medicaid and other state programs.  While intended to address gender dysphoria, these interventions pose significant long-term dangers to children, potentially causing irreversible harm, with limited evidence of sustained mental health benefits. The rise in gender identity issues among minors may be fueled by social media influence, mental health challenges, and parental dynamics, raising concerns about premature medical decisions.  Given the lack of long-term data and children’s developmental vulnerabilities, we must restrict these treatments to rare, extreme c...