On December 23, 2025, Oregon Attorney General Dan Rayfield, New York Attorney General Letitia James, and Washington Attorney General Nick Brown co-led a coalition of 19 attorneys general and the governor of Pennsylvania in filing a lawsuit challenging the U.S. Department of Health and Human Services (HHS) Secretary Robert F. Kennedy, Jr.’s December 18, 2025, declaration (Kennedy Declaration) that claims gender-affirming care fails to meet professionally recognized standards of care and, as such, that HHS may disqualify from Medicare and Medicaid any doctors or hospitals that provide such care. In connection with the Kennedy Declaration, HHS published two proposed rules: one that would prohibit federal reimbursement for gender-affirming care for minors in Medicaid and the Children’s Health Insurance Program, and another that would prohibit providers who provide gender-affirming care to adolescents from participating in the Medicaid and Medicare programs entirely, even for other types of care. These rules have not yet gone into effect, and HHS has given the public until February 17, 2026, to submit comments on the proposals.

In the lawsuit, the coalition argues that the Kennedy Declaration violates the Administrative Procedure Act, oversteps the Secretary’s legal authority to regulate medicine, and would cause immediate harm to states’ abilities to administer Medicaid programs in accordance with state laws. The coalition is seeking the court’s intervention to block the unlawful and arbitrary declaration.

By targeting Oregon providers, HHS is putting care at risk and forcing families to choose between their personal health care choices and their doctor’s ability to practice. Healthcare decisions belong with families and their healthcare providers, not the government. Attorney General Dan Rayfield