No more VA-funded transgender hormones for veterans

The Department of Veterans Affairs, or VA, on Monday said it would no longer fund transgender hormones for veterans. The department also stopped handing out items such as wigs, prosthetics, and surgical compression vests. The department also stopped writing what it called “letters of support” to non-VA healthcare providers, encouraging the providers to perform sex-change surgery on veterans, according to the news release. The changes came in response to a Jan. 20 executive order from President Donald Trump that affirmed two unchangeable sexes.

When did this policy become public? The VA announced the policy after National Public Radio obtained an internal memo on the change and published a story on Friday. NPR reported that a VA spokesman on Friday initially denied any policy change had taken place. But the department later made the memo available and publicly announced the change. 

Secretary Doug Collins said in a statement that all veterans are welcome at Veterans Affairs but that if they want to attempt to change their sex, they can pay for it themselves.

Are there any exceptions to the change? Veterans who are already receiving cross-sex hormones or received them as part of their military benefits will continue to do so.

What will the VA do with the money saved? Any money saved will go toward healthcare for severely injured veterans, like amputees and paraplegics, according to a news release.

Dig deeper: Read my previous report on trans-identifying people being discharged from the military.