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Trump administration bans the use of federal Medicaid funds to cover gender identity healthcare

By CNN

(CNN) — The Trump administration on Tuesday finalized a rule that will bar Medicaid from covering gender identity healthcare for children enrolled in the government’s low-income insurance program.

The new policy prohibits states from using federal Medicaid funds to pay for any gender identity care for enrollees under 18, marking the administration’s latest effort to restrict youth access to transgender healthcare.

President Donald Trump celebrated the move in a Truth Social post, touting it as necessary to crack down on “barbaric surgeries and practices, which result in unthinkable and irreversible harm to their young bodies.”

“Just think about all the young, innocent, and perhaps confused children who will be spared!” Trump wrote on social media.

The president has sought to make transgender care a central issue in the run-up to the midterms, frequently describing such gender identity healthcare procedures in graphic terms and claiming, without evidence, that swaths of children are being pressured to secretly transition without their parents’ knowledge.

Democrats and a broad range of medical organizations have denounced the Trump administration’s efforts to restrict transgender healthcare procedures as harmful and counterproductive, warning that it will further jeopardize children’s health.

The administration last year floated the potential for a wider effort to restrict gender identity healthcare for children, including withholding federal funds from hospitals and doctors that continue to offer the procedures.

But the rule finalized Tuesday by the Centers for Medicare and Medicaid Services instead targets coverage provided to low-income enrollees that is funded in part by the federal government.

Under the new policy, states that continue to provide transgender care through Medicaid and CHIP would need to finance it themselves, without the aid of federal money that helps pay for a significant share of the insurance programs. In a statement, CMS said that the funding ban would not apply to mental health services for children.

The rule is set to take effect on October 13, according to CMS. For those children who are currently receiving gender identity care, federal funds will remain available for six months to allow for a “tapering off” period.

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Pilot reports possible burn injuries after passenger’s laptop catches fire

▶ Watch Video: Laptop battery sparks fire on American Airlines flight A passenger's laptop caught fire on an American Airlines flight Friday, with the pilot reporting that some passengers may have been burned, according to air traffic control audio. One passenger was treated and released after American Airlines Flight 2398 landed at Dallas Fort Worth International Airport, the airport said in a statement. "Cabin fire in the back of the airplane," the pilot says in air traffic control audio obtained by CBS News. "The flight attendants are trying to put it out now."The flight, which originated in Atlanta, had 133 people on board, the pilot told air traffic controllers.Flight attendants onboard contained the fire with a thermal containment bag, and the flight landed around 6:55 p.m. local time, the Federal Aviation Administration said in a statement. The FAA is investigating.Jessica Irgens, a passenger onboard, recounted to CBS News that the fire occurred about 30 minutes before the end of the flight. Irgens said another passenger's laptop started smoking and caught fire, filling the plane with smoke. Irgens said she was sitting two rows from the fire, and ran to the back of the plane because of the heavy smoke.The owner placed the burning laptop in the aisle, and one or two passengers who tried to help burned their hands, Irgens said. Flight were able to seal the laptop in a thermal bag within about five minutes."I think we have about four to five passengers that were burned by the laptop," the pilot said in the air traffic control audio. "The laptop is contained about mid-aircraft."  "American Airlines flight 2398 landed safely at DFW after reports of smoke from a customer's device during landing," American Airlines said in a statement. "We thank our crew for their professionalism and swift response to quickly contain the device."  The lithium batteries used in devices such as laptops and cellphones can pose risks on flights due to overheating, according to the FAA, because of a process known as "thermal runaway.""Thermal runaway can occur without warning as a result of various factors, including if the battery is damaged, overheated, exposed to water, overcharged, or improperly packed," the FAA says in an advisory. The FAA has size limits for lithium batteries on flights because of those risks. So far this year, there have been at least 56 lithium battery incidents reported on flights that involved smoke, fire or overheating, per FAA data.  In February, an Alaska Airlines flight bound for Wichita, Kansas, was forced to return to Seattle, Washington, after a passenger's power bank device overheated and caught fire. 
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