What Trump Is Doing To The Transgender People

As reported by NBC -- An Obama admin regulation which makes it illegal for healthcare providers and insurance policies covered under the Affordable Care Act to discriminate against transgender people, was on Friday, reversed by the government. The rules defines gender identity as "male or female and as determined by biology," not, as the Obama administration put it, “one’s internal sense of gender, which may be male, female, neither, or a combination of male and female.” It's set to take effect in mid-August, NPR reported. 

What this means is that they could be denied treatment for ovarian cancer, or an insurer might not cover a hysterectomy or even up the price if the procedure is related to the patient's gender transition, according to NPR. 

Nearly, one-quarter of transgender individuals have said they did not seek out healthcare for fear of being mistreated because they are transgender. This finding comes from the National Center for Transgender Equality's 2015 survey of 27,715 transgender adults from every state and D.C., its territories and U.S. military bases abroad.

Many prominent LGBTQ organizations responded to the announcement by denouncing it, with some promising swift action.

Trump administration seems to be equating transgender people with "unnecessary costs" and saying the cost of their care represents an "ineffective regulatory burden."

This comes at a time when the pandemic has already made it harder for transgender people to access gender confirmation surgerygiven the cancellation or postponement of scheduled surgeries. Without this procedure, transgender people can suffer from suicidal thoughts.

Trump's administration's motive for doing this, is to save taxpayers money.

“Now more than ever, Americans do not want billions of dollars in ineffective regulatory burdens raising the costs of their healthcare.  We are doing our part to reel in unnecessary costs that add economic burdens to patients, providers, and insurers alike,” said Roger Severino, the director of the Office of Civil Rights for the department of Health and Human Services (HHS), in a press release.