HHS publicly reaffirms intent to finalize hospital gender-affirming-care ban

After NPR reports that HHS planned to abandon the hospital Conditions of Participation rule, HHS publicly denies the report the same day via official channels: "The Department has not withdrawn or reversed course on the [proposed gender-affirming care] rule," and reaffirming its intent to issue a final rule despite 21-state opposition. (Contemporaneous reporting describing the CoP rule as still "under OMB review" as of June 16, 2026, or as blocked by the Oregon injunction, conflates it with the separate Medicaid/CHIP funding rule -- RIN 0938-AV73, the actual subject of the June 16 OMB submission -- and with the Kennedy Declaration; the hospital Conditions of Participation rule, RIN 0938-AV87, has never had a final-stage OIRA review, and the Oregon injunction in State of Oregon v. Kennedy enjoined only the Kennedy Declaration, not the CoP rulemaking -- see the corrected entry for 2026-06-16 above.) (see also section 2)