• Georgia: According to a new study published in Annals of Internal Medicine, almost half of CDC's public databases on federal health surveillance stopped or delayed their updates in 2025. In January of last year, White House officials directed federal health agencies, including CDC, to pause external communications, such as health advisories and scientific reports. Agencies were also instructed to "[t]ake down webpages promoting gender ideology within 48 hours" on Jan. 29, 2025. By early February, CDC and other agencies removed webpages related to gender-based violence, HIV, LGBTQ+ issues, teenage depression, health equity, and more. Although a federal judge later ordered the agencies to restore earlier versions of webpages that had been removed, researchers found that 38 of CDC's 82 public data records still had "unexplained pauses" as of Oct. 28. In response to the study, an HHS spokesperson said that "[c]hanges to individual dashboards or update schedules reflect routine data quality and system management decisions, not political direction. Under this administration, public health data reporting is driven by scientific integrity, transparency, and accuracy." (Twenter, Becker's Clinical Leadership, 1/27)
• Illinois: ASPS has issued a recommendation against gender-affirming surgeries, including chest, genital, and facial surgeries, for young patients under the age of 19. It is the first major medical association to make such a recommendation. Currently, the American Medical Association and the American Academy of Pediatrics recommend gender-affirming surgeries primarily for adults but say that some adolescent patients can receive them on a case-by-case basis. According to Scot Bradley Glasberg, past president of ASPS, the new recommendation was made based on an evaluation of several recent reviews that found that the impact of pediatric gender medication, such as puberty blockers and hormone therapy, was limited. "We realize that we are potentially going in a different direction from other organizations," Glasberg said. "We're focused on the science, the data and the evidence going forward." Recently, there have been growing efforts to ban gender-affirming care for minors. Last year, the Trump administration proposed regulations to remove medical providers from federal health insurance programs if they provided transition care to youths. Almost half of all U.S. states have also passed measures to restrict pediatric transition services. (Cunningham, Washington Post, 2/3; Jacobs, New York Times, 2/3)
• Kentucky: Humana is investing $3 million in the Humana Health Workforce Scholarship Fund, which will cover full tuition for incoming medical students at Xavier Ochsner College of Medicine (XOCOM). XOCOM was created in 2024 by Xavier University of Louisiana, a historically Black college, and Ochsner Health. The goal of the fund is to attract top talent to Louisiana and keep them working in the region, which is experiencing a shortage of healthcare workers. According to George Renaudin, president of insurance at Humana, the company also supports scholarships for physician assistants at Xavier and often hires pharmacists from the school. "It's really a long-term investment in the health of the state in this instance, and not really any response to any specific business need, other than the fact that we just know through a value-oriented lens that access to care delivers better outcomes and lower costs in the future," Renaudin said. According to Fierce Healthcare, this is not the first time Humana has partnered with a university. In 2018, the company partnered with the University of Houston to launch the Humana Integrated Health Systems Science Institute, which aimed to integrate population health programs into medical education. (Minemyer, Fierce Healthcare, 1/26) 

As insurance coverage for gender affirmation services expands and more patients request these services, providers have begun to consider not just how to offer welcoming and gender affirming care, but how to formalize these services into dedicated programs. Learn how with our three-step provider playbook.