Senate parliamentarian orders removal of gender-affirming care ban from GOP reconciliation bill

Restrictions on the use of federal funds for gender-affirming care will be stripped from the Republican-led Senate reconciliation bill following a ruling by the Senate parliamentarian on Tuesday that struck down a number of soundness related provisions The regulation banned coverage for transgender diagnostic care through Medicaid and the Children s Soundness Insurance Project language that was also included in the House version of the bill passed on May with a vote of - The parliamentarian s decision also rejected Republican proposals for a Medicaid provider tax framework which allows states to charge physical condition care providers and use the funds to backing their programs along with broader cuts to Medicaid Amid calls to override Tuesday s ruling from Republicans like U S Rep Greg Steube Fla GOP Senate Majority Leader John Thune S D communicated reporters That would not be a good outcome for getting a bill done He also acknowledged that the timing and schedule might have to be adjusted Senate Republicans had hoped to pass the reconciliation bill by the end of this week though this was not a legal or procedural deadline Dubbed the one big beautiful bill by President Donald Trump the provision would extend tax breaks from that overwhelmingly benefit the wealthiest Americans and corporations To cover the cost which is estimated to exceed trillion over years the bill would make drastic cuts to social welfare programs particularly Medicaid Democrats are not in a position to negotiate across the aisle with Republicans holding majorities in both chambers of Congress but for months they have been calling attention to the effort by their GOP colleagues to strip Americans of their fitness insurance to pay for the tax breaks The Congressional Budget Office estimates that million people would lose their coverage either through Medicaid or the Affordable Care Act marketplaces Certain Republicans like U S Sen Josh Hawley Mo are pushing back against the deep cuts to Medicaid arguing they would be devastating for multiple of their constituents and also to hospitals nursing homes and neighborhood vitality care providers in rural areas In a report emailed to the Washington Blade on Tuesday U S Senate Democratic Whip Dick Durbin Ill mentioned Anti-trans extremists are attempting to use the full power of the regime to hurt kids and latest Supreme Court decisions in Skrmetti and Medina are enabling their quest While in the current era s ruling by the Senate parliamentarian is a temporary win I will keep pushing back on these shameful attempts to harm trans kids and their families for trying to live authentically announced the senator who also serves as ranking member of the powerful Senate Judiciary Committee U S Rep Mark Takano D-Calif who is gay and chairs the Congressional Equality Caucus also shared a message with the Washington Blade addressing the parliamentarian s ruling This ruling by the Senate Parliamentarian is a win for the transgender people who rely on Medicaid and CHIP to access the healthcare they need to live fuller happier and healthier lives but the fight is not over yet the congressman announced Republican Senators must abide by her ruling and remove the ban from the final version of Trump s Big Ugly Bill he announced Yet even with this provision removed this bill is terrible for the American people including trans Americans Every Equality Caucus member voted against it in the House and we re ready to do so again if the Senate sends it back to the House The Human Rights Campaign issued a press release with a declaration from the organization s vice president for regime affairs David Stacy The fact remains that this bill belongs in the trash It continues to include devastating cuts to robustness care programs including Medicaid that would disproportionately harm the LGBTQ public all so the already rich can receive huge tax cuts Stacy noted While it comes as a relief that the Senate parliamentarian concluded that one provision in the nightmarish reconciliation bill that would have denied essential best practice wellness care to transgender adults does not belong we aren t done fighting he noted With attacks on our area coming from multiple directions including the Supreme Court we will work to defeat this bill with everything we ve got The post Senate parliamentarian orders removal of gender-affirming care ban from GOP reconciliation bill appeared first on Rough Draft Atlanta