Text of US HB 2487 (2025)

I 119TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION H. R. 2487 To improve access to evidence-based, lifesaving health care for transgender people, and for other purposes. IN THE HOUSE OF REPRESENTATIVES MARCH 31, 2025 Ms. BALINT (for herself, Ms. ANSARI, Ms. CROCKETT, Mr. DAVIS of Illinois, Mr. ESPAILLAT, Mr. EVANS of Pennsylvania, Ms. JACOBS, Ms. JAYAPAL, Mr. JOHNSON of Georgia, Ms. JOHNSON of Texas, Mr. KHANNA, Mr. KRISHNAMOORTHI, Mr. LANDSMAN, Ms. LEE of Pennsylvania, Ms. MCCLELLAN, Mrs. MCIVER, Mr. NADLER, Ms. NORTON, Ms. OCASIO- CORTEZ, Mr. POCAN, Mrs. RAMIREZ, Ms. RANDALL, Ms. SCHAKOWSKY, Mr. TAKANO, Mr. THANEDAR, Ms. TLAIB, Ms. TOKUDA, Mr. TONKO, Ms. VELA´ZQUEZ, and Mrs. WATSON COLEMAN) introduced the following bill; which was referred to the Committee on Energy and Commerce A BILL To improve access to evidence-based, lifesaving health care for transgender people, and for other purposes. Be it enacted by the Senate and House of Representa- 1 tives of the United States of America in Congress assembled, 2 SECTION 1. SHORT TITLE. 3 This Act may be referred to as the ‘‘Transgender 4 Health Care Access Act’’. 5 SEC. 2. TABLE OF CONTENTS. 6 The table of contents of this Act is as follows: 7 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:01 Apr 03, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2487.IH H2487 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 2 •HR 2487 IH Sec. 1. Short title. Sec. 2. Table of contents. Sec. 3. Findings. Sec. 4. Definitions. Sec. 5. Improving medical education curricula for gender-affirming care. Sec. 6. Training demonstration program for gender-affirming care. Sec. 7. Expanding capacity for gender-affirming care at community health cen- ters. Sec. 8. Training rural providers in gender-affirming care. Sec. 9. Report to Congress. SEC. 3. FINDINGS. 1 Congress finds the following: 2 (1) Receiving gender-affirming care increases 3 self-esteem and quality of life and decreases depres- 4 sion, self-harm, and suicidality in transgender people 5 of all ages. 6 (2) There is a strong medical consensus about 7 the importance of health care for transgender peo- 8 ple, including transgender young people. The Amer- 9 ican Academy of Child and Adolescent Psychiatry, 10 American Academy of Dermatology, American Acad- 11 emy of Pediatrics, American Academy of Physician 12 Assistants, American Medical Association, American 13 Nurses Association, American Association of Clinical 14 Endocrinology, American Association of Geriatric 15 Psychiatry, American College Health Association, 16 American College of Nurse-Midwives, American Col- 17 lege of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, American 18 College of Physicians, American Counseling Associa- 19 tion, American Heart Association, American Medical 20 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:01 Apr 03, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2487.IH H2487 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 3 •HR 2487 IH Student Association, American Psychiatric Associa- 1 tion, American Psychological Association, American 2 Society for Reproductive Medicine, American 3 Urological Association, Endocrine Society, Federa- 4 tion of Pediatric Organizations, GLMA: Health Pro- 5 fessionals Advancing LGBTQ Equality, The Journal 6 of the American Medical Association, National Asso- 7 ciation of Nurse Practitioners in Women’s Health, 8 National Association of Social Workers, Pediatric 9 Endocrine Society, Pediatrics (Journal of the Amer- 10 ican Academy of Pediatrics), United States Profes- 11 sional Association for Transgender Health 12 (USPATH), World Health Organization (WHO), 13 World Medical Association, and World Professional 14 Association for Transgender Health, have all issued 15 statements in support of health care for transgender 16 people. 17 (3) There is a gap in education across health 18 professions around treating transgender patients. 19 One survey of students at 10 medical schools showed 20 that approximately 80 percent of students did not 21 feel competent at treating transgender patients. 22 (4) Academic literature shows that this edu- 23 cation gap is a significant barrier to appropriate 24 health care. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:01 Apr 03, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2487.IH H2487 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 4 •HR 2487 IH (5) Experts in gender-affirming care and cul- 1 turally competent care for transgender people are 2 improving access to gender-affirming care through 3 peer-to-peer education. 4 SEC. 4. DEFINITIONS. 5 In this Act: 6 (1) The term ‘‘gender-affirming care’’— 7 (A) means health care designed to treat 8 gender dysphoria; 9 (B) includes all supplies, care, and services 10 of a medical, behavioral health, mental health, 11 surgical, psychiatric, therapeutic, diagnostic, 12 preventative, rehabilitative, or supportive na- 13 ture, including medication, relating to the treat- 14 ment of gender dysphoria; and 15 (C) excludes conversion therapy. 16 (2) The term ‘‘Secretary’’ means the Secretary 17 of Health and Human Services. 18 SEC. 5. IMPROVING MEDICAL EDUCATION CURRICULA FOR 19 GENDER-AFFIRMING CARE. 20 (a) IMPROVING THE PROVISION OF GENDER-AFFIRM- 21 ING CARE.— 22 (1) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting 23 through the Administrator of the Health Resources 24 and Services Administration, shall award grants to 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:01 Apr 03, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2487.IH H2487 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 5 •HR 2487 IH eligible entities for the development, evaluation, and 1 implementation of model curricula, demonstration 2 projects, and training projects to improve the provi- 3 sion of gender-affirming care. 4 (2) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—To be eligible to re- 5 ceive a grant under paragraph (1), an entity shall 6 be— 7 (A) a health care professions school; 8 (B) a health care delivery site with fellows, 9 residents, or other health care professional stu- 10 dents or trainees; or 11 (C) a licensing or accreditation entity for 12 health care professions schools. 13 (b) CURRICULA.— 14 (1) TOPICS.—The Secretary shall ensure that 15 curricula developed pursuant to subsection (a) in- 16 clude instruction on one or more of the following 17 topics: 18 (A) Gender-affirming care. 19 (B) Cultural competency in treating 20 transgender patients. 21 (2) PEDAGOGICAL APPROACHES.—Curricula de- 22 veloped pursuant to subsection (a) may employ— 23 (A) didactic education; 24 (B) clinical education; 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:01 Apr 03, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2487.IH H2487 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 6 •HR 2487 IH (C) simulated or standardized patient edu- 1 cation; 2 (D) community-based research; and 3 (E) community-based learning. 4 (c) DISSEMINATION.—The Secretary, acting through 5 the Director of the National Library of Medicine and the 6 Director of the National Institutes of Health, in collabora- 7 tion with medical education accrediting organizations, 8 shall disseminate model curricula developed under this 9 section. 10 (d) DURATION OF AWARD.—The period of a grant 11 under this section shall be 3 years, subject to annual re- 12 view and continuation by the Secretary. 13 (e) CARRYOVER FUNDS.—The Secretary shall make 14 available funds to grantees under this section on an an- 15 nual basis, but may authorize a grantee to retain the 16 funds for obligation and expenditure through the end of 17 the 3-year grant period referred to in subsection (f). 18 (f) AUTHORIZATIONS OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There 19 is authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 20 $10,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2030. 21 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:01 Apr 03, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2487.IH H2487 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 7 •HR 2487 IH SEC. 6. TRAINING DEMONSTRATION PROGRAM FOR GEN- 1 DER-AFFIRMING CARE. 2 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall establish a 3 demonstration program to award grants to eligible entities 4 to support— 5 (1) training for medical residents and fellows to 6 practice gender-affirming care; 7 (2) training (including for individuals com- 8 pleting clinical training requirements for licensure) 9 for nurse practitioners, physician assistants, health 10 service psychologists, clinical psychologists, coun- 11 selors, nurses, and social workers to practice gender- 12 affirming care; and 13 (3) establishing, maintaining, or improving aca- 14 demic programs that— 15 (A) provide training for students or fac- 16 ulty, including through clinical experiences, to 17 improve their ability to provide culturally com- 18 petent gender-affirming care; and 19 (B) conduct research to develop evidence- 20 based practices regarding gender-affirming 21 care, including curriculum content standards 22 for programs that provide training for students 23 or faculty as described in subparagraph (A). 24 (b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.— 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:01 Apr 03, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2487.IH H2487 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 8 •HR 2487 IH (1) TRAINING FOR RESIDENTS AND FEL- 1 LOWS.—To be eligible to receive a grant under sub- 2 section (a)(1), an entity shall be— 3 (A) a consortium consisting of— 4 (i) at least one teaching health center; 5 and 6 (ii) the sponsoring institution (or par- 7 ent institution of the sponsoring institu- 8 tion) of— 9 (I) a residency program in pri- 10 mary care, internal medicine, family 11 medicine, pediatric medicine, gyne- 12 cology, endocrinology, or surgery that 13 is accredited by the Accreditation 14 Council for Graduate Medical Edu- 15 cation; or 16 (II) a fellowship program in a 17 field identified in subclause (I); or 18 (B) an institution described in subpara- 19 graph (A)(ii) that provides opportunities for 20 residents or fellows to train in community-based 21 settings that provide health care to transgender 22 populations. 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:01 Apr 03, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00008 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2487.IH H2487 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 9 •HR 2487 IH (2) TRAINING FOR OTHER PROVIDERS.—To be 1 eligible to receive a grant under subsection (a)(2), 2 an entity shall be— 3 (A) a teaching health center (as defined in 4 section 749A(f)(3) of the Public Health Service 5 Act (42 U.S.C. 293l–1(f)(3))); 6 (B) a Federally-qualified health center (as 7 defined in section 1905(l)(2)(B) of the Social 8 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1396d(l)(2)(B))); 9 (C) a community mental health center (as 10 defined in section 1861(ff)(3)(B) of the Social 11 Security Act (42 U.S.C. 1395x(ff)(3)(B))); 12 (D) a rural health clinic (as defined in sec- 13 tion 1861(aa)(2) of the Social Security Act (42 14 U.S.C. 1395x(aa)(2))); 15 (E) a health center operated by the Indian 16 Health Service, an Indian Tribe, a Tribal orga- 17 nization, or an Urban Indian organization (as 18 defined in section 4 of the Indian Health Care 19 Improvement Act (25 U.S.C. 1603)); or 20 (F) an entity with a demonstrated record 21 of success in providing training for nurse prac- 22 titioners, physician assistants, health service 23 psychologists, counselors, nurses, or social 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:01 Apr 03, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00009 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2487.IH H2487 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 10 •HR 2487 IH workers, including such entities that serve pedi- 1 atric populations. 2 (3) ACADEMIC UNITS OR PROGRAMS.—To be el- 3 igible to receive a grant under subsection (a)(3), an 4 entity shall be— 5 (A) a school of medicine or osteopathic 6 medicine; 7 (B) a school of nursing; 8 (C) a physician assistant training program; 9 (D) a school of pharmacy; 10 (E) a school of social work; 11 (F) an accredited public or nonprofit pri- 12 vate hospital; 13 (G) an accredited medical residency pro- 14 gram; or 15 (H) a public or nonprofit private entity 16 that the Secretary determines is capable of car- 17 rying out such a grant because of prior experi- 18 ence providing education on the provision of 19 health care to transgender people. 20 (c) USE OF FUNDS.— 21 (1) TRAINING GRANTS.—A recipient of a grant 22 under subsection (a)(1) or (a)(2)— 23 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:01 Apr 03, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00010 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2487.IH H2487 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 11 •HR 2487 IH (A) shall use the grant funds to plan, de- 1 velop, and operate a training program for resi- 2 dents and fellows; and 3 (B) may use the grant funds to— 4 (i) support the administration of a 5 program described in subparagraph (A); 6 (ii) support professional development 7 for faculty of a program described in sub- 8 paragraph (A); or 9 (iii) establish, maintain, or improve 10 departments, divisions, or other units nec- 11 essary to implement a program described 12 in subparagraph (A). 13 (2) GRANTS TO ACADEMIC UNITS OR PRO- 14 GRAMS.—A recipient of a grant under subsection 15 (a)(3) shall enter into a partnership with education 16 accrediting organizations or similar organizations to 17 carry out activities under subsection (a)(3). 18 (d) PRIORITY.—In making awards under this section, 19 the Secretary shall give priority to eligible entities that— 20 (1) have a history of providing health care to 21 transgender people; or 22 (2) serve areas where access to gender-affirm- 23 ing care is limited. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:01 Apr 03, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00011 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2487.IH H2487 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 12 •HR 2487 IH (e) MINIMUM PERIOD OF GRANTS.—The period of a 1 grant under this section shall be not less than 5 years. 2 (f) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 3 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 4 $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2030. 5 SEC. 7. EXPANDING CAPACITY FOR GENDER-AFFIRMING 6 CARE AT COMMUNITY HEALTH CENTERS. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary, acting through the 8 Administrator of the Health Resources and Services Ad- 9 ministration, shall award grants or cooperative agree- 10 ments to eligible entities to promote the capacity of com- 11 munity health centers to provide gender-affirming care to 12 transgender populations. 13 (b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—To be eligible to receive a 14 grant under subsection (a), an entity shall be— 15 (1) a teaching health center (as defined in sec- 16 tion 749A(f)(3) of the Public Health Service Act (42 17 U.S.C. 293l–1(f)(3))); 18 (2) a Federally-qualified health center (as de- 19 fined in section 1905(l)(2)(B) of the Social Security 20 Act (42 U.S.C. 1396d(l)(2)(B))); 21 (3) a community mental health center (as de- 22 fined in section 1861(ff)(3)(B) of the Social Security 23 Act (42 U.S.C. 1395x(ff)(3)(B))); 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:01 Apr 03, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00012 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2487.IH H2487 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 13 •HR 2487 IH (4) a rural health clinic (as defined in section 1 1861(aa)(2) of the Social Security Act (42 U.S.C. 2 1395x(aa)(2))); 3 (5) a health center operated by the Indian 4 Health Service, an Indian Tribe, a Tribal organiza- 5 tion, or an Urban Indian organization (as defined in 6 section 4 of the Indian Health Care Improvement 7 Act (25 U.S.C. 1603)); or 8 (6) a State or local entity, such as a State of- 9 fice of rural health. 10 (c) USE OF FUNDS.—A grant under subsection (a) 11 shall be used to promote the capacity of community health 12 centers to provide gender-affirming care, which may in- 13 clude— 14 (1) education and training, including profes- 15 sional development and training on nondiscrimina- 16 tion regulations, for health care professionals and 17 other staff of health care providers; 18 (2) establishing or sustaining a community re- 19 view board; 20 (3) updating electronic health records; and 21 (4) administrative, operational, or technical 22 costs related to the effective provision of gender-af- 23 firming care. 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:01 Apr 03, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00013 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2487.IH H2487 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 14 •HR 2487 IH (d) MINIMUM PERIOD OF GRANTS.—The period of 1 a grant under this section shall be not less than 3 years. 2 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 3 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 4 $15,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2030. 5 SEC. 8. TRAINING RURAL PROVIDERS IN GENDER-AFFIRM- 6 ING CARE. 7 (a) IN GENERAL.—The Secretary shall award grants 8 or cooperative agreements to eligible entities to establish 9 collaborative networks to improve the quality of gender- 10 affirming care. 11 (b) ELIGIBLE ENTITIES.—To be eligible for a grant 12 under subsection (a), an entity shall be— 13 (1) a public or nonprofit private health care 14 provider, such as a critical access hospital or health 15 clinic; 16 (2) a Federally-qualified health center (as de- 17 fined in section 1905(l)(2)(B) of the Social Security 18 Act (42 U.S.C. 1396d(l)(2)(B))); 19 (3) a health care professions school; 20 (4) a health care delivery site that has fellows, 21 residents, or other health care professional students 22 or trainees; and 23 (5) a licensing or accreditation entity for health 24 care professions schools. 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:01 Apr 03, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00014 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2487.IH H2487 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 15 •HR 2487 IH (c) ALLOWABLE ACTIVITIES.—In establishing a col- 1 laborative network as described in subsection (a), a grant- 2 ee may, with respect to gender-affirming care, use grant 3 funds— 4 (1) to assist rural health care providers in the 5 network to conduct or pursue additional training; 6 (2) to perform provider-to-provider education 7 and outreach to rural health care providers; and 8 (3) to perform patient education. 9 (d) DEFINITION.—In this section, the term ‘‘rural 10 health care provider’’ means a health care provider serving 11 an area that is not designated by the United States Cen- 12 sus Bureau as an urbanized area or urban cluster. 13 (e) AUTHORIZATION OF APPROPRIATIONS.—There is 14 authorized to be appropriated to carry out this section 15 $5,000,000 for each of fiscal years 2026 through 2030. 16 SEC. 9. REPORT TO CONGRESS. 17 (a) SUBMISSION.—Not later than 2 years after the 18 date of enactment of this Act the Secretary shall submit 19 a report to the Congress on the programs and activities 20 under this Act. 21 (b) CONTENT.—Reports submitted under subsection 22 (a) shall include— 23 (1) a description of— 24 VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:01 Apr 03, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00015 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\H2487.IH H2487 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS 16 •HR 2487 IH (A) progress made in implementing pro- 1 grams and activities under this Act; and 2 (B) the extent to which such programs and 3 activities have improved health equity for 4 transgender populations; and 5 (2) recommendations for workforce development 6 to improve access to, and the quality of, gender-af- 7 firming care for transgender populations. 8 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 23:01 Apr 03, 2025 Jkt 059200 PO 00000 Frm 00016 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\H2487.IH H2487 ssavage on LAPJG3WLY3PROD with BILLS