Sen. Bill Cassidy (L-LA), Chairman of the Senate Health, Education, Labor, and Pensions (HELP) Committee, is demanding answers from two Rhode Island health centers and a federal agency over whether taxpayer dollars are funding gender transition services for minors and then paying the legal bills when those patients sue.
In letters sent this week and obtained by Fox News, Cassidy asked Thundermist Health Center and Hasbro Children’s Hospital to explain reports that they provided puberty blockers, cross-sex hormones, and surgical referrals to patients under 19 years old. He also pressed the Health Resources and Services Administration (HRSA) on whether a federal liability structure is shielding those providers from accountability.
“Health care providers are supposed to protect children’s health, not subject them to dangerous sex-change procedures driven by ideology,” Cassidy said in a statement. “These entities need to be held accountable to prevent further harm to children.”
The probe widens an investigation already underway at the Department of Health and Human Services. In February, HHS General Counsel Mike Stuart referred several federally funded community health centers for inspector general review over similar allegations. The status of those referrals is not publicly known. Cassidy’s letter asks HRSA what enforcement actions, if any, have been taken.
At the center of the inquiry is a federal liability mechanism under the Federal Tort Claims Act (FTCA), which can classify certain community health center employees as federal workers for legal purposes. When patients file malpractice claims, the Department of Justice steps in to defend the providers, meaning taxpayers foot the legal bill.
Cassidy said that structure raises serious accountability concerns as detransition lawsuits mount. His letter cites multiple cases where DOJ has represented health centers or their providers in litigation tied to gender transition services.
Documents reviewed by Fox News describe how at least one of the targeted centers maintains an internal pathway for patients under 18 seeking hormones, with parental consent required only for an initial intake appointment. A second center publicly advertises transgender health services, including hormone care, and separately runs an adolescent health program for LGBTQ youth ages 13 to 24.
Federally funded community health centers receive more than $6.3 billion in mandatory and discretionary funding for fiscal year 2026. The HRSA Health Center Program receives an additional $120 million to administer the FTCA liability program.
The letters arrive days before a scheduled Senate hearing on gender transition procedures for children and federal funding connected to those services.
