Vance, Kennedy Refer Hospitals to DOJ Over Pediatric Gender Medicine Billing Fraud

Vice President JD Vance and Health and Human Services Secretary Robert F. Kennedy Jr. have referred more than 225 hospitals and health systems to the Department of Justice and the HHS Inspector General for potential federal law violations, following the release of a government report alleging widespread fraudulent billing in pediatric gender medicine. The move, announced on August 13, 2026, comes as the Trump administration moves to end federal funding for such treatments for minors.

The referrals are based on findings in a new HHS report titled "Wolves in White Coats: How Doctors and Hospitals Pushed and Profited from the Fraud of Gender Medicine." The report examines insurance coding practices for treatments including puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgical procedures provided to minors. According to HHS materials, nationwide insurance claims data from 2015 to 2025 identified approximately $50 million in claims for puberty-blocking drugs billed under the diagnostic code for "endocrine disorder, unspecified." An additional nearly $11 million involved claims for patients ages 13 to 17 billed under a precocious puberty diagnosis code, a condition typically...