JD Vance is urging the Justice Department to examine an HHS report that accuses some hospitals of using billing codes to push gender care on minors.
Vice President JD Vance is pressing the Justice Department to examine an HHS report on what it describes as fraudulent billing tied to teen transgender treatment. The report alleges that some hospitals and health care providers pushed children into gender medicine while billing insurers for costly procedures and services.
The Health and Human Services report, titled “Wolves in White Coats: How Doctors and Hospitals Pushed and Profited from the Fraud of ‘Gender Medicine,’” says more than $60 million in insurance claims were filed for treatments that included puberty blockers for adolescents as young as 13 from 2015 through 2025. According to HHS, some providers treated children who had hormonal issues, endocrine system problems, or early onset puberty with transgender care and billed insurance companies for it. Fox News Digital obtained a letter from Vance to Attorney General Todd Blanche in which the vice president urged criminal prosecution of anyone who intentionally misled children to obtain transgender treatment.
In that letter, Vance pointed to research and billing patterns he said raised red flags. He cited one study showing that only about 4.7 percent of patients diagnosed with “endocrine disorder, unspecified” actually had that condition. He also cited another finding that showed a 30 percent increase in endocrine disorder diagnoses even though a large rise in pediatric endocrine disorders would be unlikely. Vance wrote that when providers miscode treatment to win insurance coverage for gender-transitioning interventions, they should be held accountable. If the conduct was intentional and amounted to fraud against Medicaid or private insurers, he said, those responsible should go to prison.
The report also argues that the financial incentives are significant. It says the average health care cost for a minor is about $3,000, but transgender treatments can drive that figure to $75,000 without surgery and close to $170,000 when surgery is involved. HHS also said some providers can profit from long-term medical costs, including prescriptions, surgeries and other interventions that continue years after a patient reaches adulthood. The report says about 225 hospitals and health systems nationwide have set up pediatric gender programs.
“JD Vance is urging the Justice Department to examine an HHS report that accuses some hospitals of using billing codes to push gender care on minors.”
HHS Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr. also sent a letter to HHS Inspector General Thomas March Bell that Fox News Digital obtained. That letter included a list of hospitals and clinicians Kennedy said showed “potentially anomalous billing patterns.” The report calls for further review of insurance coding practices that can be used to file claims for gender medicine. It says its findings draw on peer-reviewed scientific literature, hospital records, whistleblower testimony, nationwide insurance claims analyses and interviews with patients and parents.
The controversy comes against the backdrop of major Biden-era support for transgender policy. Hours after President Joe Biden was sworn in in 2021, he signed Executive Order 13988, which directed the federal government to prevent discrimination based on gender identity or sexual orientation. In May 2021, Biden’s HHS said its Office for Civil Rights would enforce an Affordable Care Act nondiscrimination provision covering sex discrimination. Then, in March 2022, the department said gender-affirming care for minors, when medically appropriate and necessary, improves physical and mental health. A later executive order in June 2022 directed the federal government to expand access to comprehensive health care for LGBTQI+ individuals and families.
Vance’s push adds a new criminal law angle to a fight that has already reached hospitals, insurers and state officials across the country. The issue touches medical practice, federal funding and the way care for minors is coded and paid for, which could make the debate about teen transgender treatment even sharper in the months ahead. American families, taxpayers and insurers are now watching whether the Justice Department takes up the case and whether federal investigators follow the billing trail.
What happens next will depend on whether the Justice Department opens a formal investigation and how federal officials respond to the HHS findings. For parents and patients, the central question is whether the system protected children or put profits first.
Frequently asked questions
What is JD Vance asking the Justice Department to do?
He wants the department to investigate alleged fraud involving hospitals and providers who billed for teen transgender treatment. He also called for criminal prosecution if anyone intentionally misled children or insurers.
What does the HHS report allege?
The report says some hospitals and health care providers pushed gender medicine on minors and profited from insurance claims. It says more than $60 million in claims were filed for treatments including puberty blockers.
How does the report say providers may have billed insurers?
Vance said some providers used diagnosis and billing codes for endocrine or hormonal issues to secure coverage. He argued that intentional miscoding could amount to fraud against Medicaid or private insurers.
What federal policies are part of the background?
The article points to Biden-era orders and HHS guidance that expanded protections and access for Transgender Care. Those steps included nondiscrimination guidance and support for gender-affirming care for minors when medically appropriate.
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